Disney executives are now coming forward to defend its decision to issue another price hike for its streaming platforms amid growing user discontent with the recent streaming service boom.
During Disney's Q3 2024 earnings report, CFO Hugh Johnston claimed that the company has "earned that pricing in the marketplace" as it continues to improve features and services on its platforms.
Johnston promised that the price hikes "will come scale benefits," which in turn is expected to "reduce churn and keep our consumers with us."
The statement follows Disney CEO Bob Iger's earlier claims that it has increased its streaming "pricing leverage" to offer more live channels, shows, and movies.
Disney is set to increase subscription prices for Disney+, ESPN, and Hulu by $2 starting Oct. 17 in addition to new anti-password-sharing policies set to be implemented this September.
Disney Pushes Streaming Bundles as Alternative for Price Hikes
To keep most of its users on its platforms, Disney seems to be further pushing its much more expensive streaming bundles to evade the upcoming price hikes.
As Ars Technica has noted, only its streaming bundles, both the ad-friendly and ad-free tiers, were excluded from the price hikes.
Johnson even claimed that the bundles kept "a positive impact on churn" as more subscribers turned to its premium bundles following recent platform changes.
Disney Faces Boycott, Subscription Cancelation Calls from Dissatisfied Users
While Disney is banking on the possibility that customers will remain despite the price hikes, the actual situation paints a different picture.
Disney has reportedly lost over $1 billion after several high-budget streaming shows and films flopped last year.
Outside of a few outliers, the entertainment giant is expected to suffer similar downturns this year following price increases.
And it is not only Disney either. More people online have started urging others to abandon their subscriptions to streaming services in favor of online pirating to protest against the recent price hikes.
