ESPN is one of America’s top sports broadcasters. It became part of the Disney Company through the 1996 $19Billion purchase of Capital Cities/ABC which owned 80% stock in ESPN. The company was one of the first sports broadcasters to offer streaming via ESPN Plus which launched in 2018.
The streaming service is one of three services offered by the Walt Disney Company. They also offer Disney Plus (or Star in other regions) and Hulu (which was acquired via the 2019 $71.3Billion Acquisition of 20th Century Fox giving them a 60% stock ownership.) Currently all three services can be bundled together for a more convenient price.
The monthly subscription price for ESPN Plus was at $5.99, but Disney has just announced a $1 increase to $6.99 or an additional $10 to the Annual Plan, originally $59.99 and now costing $69.99. However it has been said that customers who have the streaming bundle (Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus) will not have any change in price.
This move has been seen as Disney attempting to slowly increase prices for their services over time in small increments, similar to what Netflix has done over the years. ESPN Plus alone currently has over 14 million subscribers, so this $1 Increase equates to an extra $14Million in income for the company. It could also be a way to entice buyers to upgrade to the Streaming Bundle.
It is currently unknown if Disney will increase the prices of any of its other services, but with the amount of new subscribers seemingly stagnating this could be a way for the company to make up for that loss of income.
Do you subscribe to ESPN Plus? What are your thoughts in the price increase?
Source: Reuters
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