Walt Disney Co. is adding Disney+ and ESPN+ to its Hulu + Live TV product and raising the price by $5 a month, giving the flagship Disney+ streaming service millions more customers at a time when growth is slowing.
Bloomberg reports the change, which takes effect Dec. 21, raises the price of the ad-free version of Hulu + Live TV to $76 a month and to $70 a month for the one with ads. Disney+ and ESPN+ together cost $15 a month if purchased separately.
Hulu + Live TV is an online alternative to cable TV, offering more than 75 channels, such as CBS and CNN. It had 4 million subscribers in early October. Regular Hulu, which includes original programs like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” had 39.7 million subscribers. It starts at $7 a month.
Disney is taking a three-pronged approach to the streaming market in the U.S. Its Disney+ service has classic kids movies, as well as new programs such as those based on the Star Wars and Marvel characters. ESPN+ is the company’s sports-focused service, which includes college sports, hockey and boxing. Hulu is its general entertainment service.
Live TV streaming products, which cost about the same as the traditional cable TV bundle, haven’t caught on with consumers in the same way that standalone streaming services like Netflix have.
Disney+ enjoyed runaway success initially, rising to 118.1 million subscribers in October. But last week, the company reported the fewest Disney+ subscriber additions since the product’s launch two years ago.
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