Disney to Offer Hulu, Disney+, ESPN+ Bundle for $12.99 a Month
Disney will offer a discounted rate for its consumers if they subscribe to all three of its streaming services — Hulu, ESPN+ and the upcoming Disney+ — for $12.99 a month, CEO Bob Iger said during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday.
The all-in-one bundle, which consists of the ad-supported version of Hulu, will be available on Nov. 12, the same day that Disney+ launches. On their own, Hulu costs $5.99 for the ad-supported version, ESPN+ costs $4.99 a month and Disney+ will cost $6.99 at launch (or $69.99 upfront for a year).
By comparison, a single Netflix subscription costs anywhere between $9 and $16 a month.
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Disney gained majority ownership (60%) of Hulu through its acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film and TV assets, which closed in March. Disney then gained full operational control of Hulu from Comcast in May. WarnerMedia also sold its 9.5% stake back to Hulu in April; the company is launching its own streaming service, HBO Max, next year.
Iger said during the call that Disney will start to market Disney+ to consumers this month and attendees at the company’s D23 event at the end of August will have the first chance to sign up. “It is going to be treated as the most important product the company has launched,” he said.
Along with housing titles from Disney brands including Marvel, Pixar, LucasFilm and its own vault, Disney+ will feature a number of original productions.
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The first one will be “The Mandalorian,” the live-action “Star Wars” series helmed by Jon Favreau. Other series include a “Rogue One” prequel starring Diego Luna’s character Cassian Andor, a “Monsters, Inc.” sequel, “Monsters at Work,” with Billy Crystal and John Goodman reprising their roles, a “Love, Simon” adaptation and “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.”
Additionally, Marvel Studios is developing four different series centered around characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first will be “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” in Fall of 2020, followed by “WandaVision,” “Loki,” “Hawkeye” and the animated “What If…” in 2021.
Disney+ will not be able to feature all of its own films at launch, due to its existing licensing deals. At its launch, Disney+ will have 18 Pixar films, six “Star Wars” films including the entire initial trilogy, and four Marvel films, with eight more — including the record-breaking “Avengers: Endgame” — within the first year of the service.
ESPN+ launched last year and surpassed 2 million paid subscribers in February. Hulu meanwhile, counts 28 million subscribers, which include those that use the ad-free option and the live TV streaming offering.
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