A recent and credible survey has revealed that a sizable amount of Disney Plus subscribers are likely to downgrade to the service’s new ad-supported tier. The new pricing model is a new measure in the platform’s attempt to grow the user base.
The brainchild of controversial former company CEO Bob Chapek, who came under fire from employees for his stance on Florida's colloquially named Don’t Say Gay bill, Disney Plus was created in 2019 as part of a big push into the streaming market. The platform took off with much fanfare and quickly became the de facto home of a tidal wave of small-screen content from Disney's large list of franchises, growing to a whopping 164.2 million users as of October.
With Bob Iger back as Disney's CEO after Chapek stepped down along with right-hand man Kareem Daniel, the newly reinstated boss has set to work fine-tuning the streaming behemoth that was painstakingly erected in his absence. As covered by Deadline, data, insight, and consulting firm Kantar conducted a massive survey of the US streaming audience in September. The findings include that nearly a quarter of all Disney Plus subscribers were likely to switch to the platform’s cheaper new ad-supported tier when renewing. The US market represents almost 30% of the global Disney Plus market, making this insight highly valuable.
While Iger is certainly vetting the measure, the plan for a cheaper Disney Plus subscription option that includes ads was already being presented as far back as March when the company was still under Chapek. The data from the Kantar research was likely partly responsible for Iger declining to re-assess the move and letting it go live as planned. The ad-supported tier will cost $7.99 monthly, while the regular ad-free tier will cost viewers $10.99 outside of the Disney Bundle discounted price.
The move is expected to bring in new viewers, satiate older ones, and further reduce the platform’s subscription cancelation rate, which is already lower than the industry average. The price drop will appeal to younger audiences, a demographic that the platform is almost tailor-made to serve with its constantly expanding gallery of content ranging from massively popular Marvel Cinematic Universe projects to Star Wars, which dropped a new poster and trailer for Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
While things certainly look set up to improve for both the platform and subscribers, Iger might be battling with more than meets the eye in terms of ensuring that Disney Plus works under his leadership and direction for the platform and the company as a whole. After the recent revelation that Disney used accounting tricks to make the platform look better under Chapek, speculation about how much work will go into Iger's vision for the company will continue to mount.
Disney Plus' ad tier is now available in the U.S.
Source: Deadline