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Disney Announces $12.99 Bundle For Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (theverge.com) 118

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Disney will offer a bundle package of its three streaming services -- Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ -- for $12.99 a month starting on November 12th, the company has announced. From a report: The company previously hinted at a bundle for all three services, but CEO Bob Iger made it official during the company's investors call Tuesday. At $12.99, the bundle is cheaper than -- or on par with -- competitive streaming services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. It's also significantly cheaper than HBO Max's rumored streaming price of $16-$17 a month. Hulu is currently available for $5.99 a month (with ads), and ESPN+ costs $4.99 a month. ESPN+ is the Disney-owned sports streaming platform, which carries "hundreds of MLB, NHL and MLS games, Grand Slam tennis, Top Rank boxing, PGA Tour golf, college sports, international rugby, cricket, the full library of ESPN Films including 30 for 30, and more."
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Disney Announces $12.99 Bundle For Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ More

Disney Announces $12.99 Bundle For Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+

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  • We've got this great deal for you! We'll off it just as soon as college football is mostly over.

    • These companies that are pulling all their stuff off Netflix and all these new services starting up are going to find very un-sustained memberships. People will join one for a month, watch it's exclusives, then cancel and move to the next, lather, rinse, repeat until fatigue sets in and people give up on streaming and TV altogether.

  • Saw this coming. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jwhyche ( 6192 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @02:59PM (#59058530) Homepage

    Who honestly didn't see this coming? All the major media companies will buy up all the little players and we will have is all the content rolled up under 2 or 3 big ass players. My prediction is all the content will be rolled up in theses services and will be worse than cable and more expensive. Now you are also paying for the pipe that carries it in to your house as well as the content.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sinij ( 911942 )
      As long as there is no advertisements, the consumers are still ahead.

      • Re:Saw this coming. (Score:5, Interesting)

        by caseih ( 160668 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @03:26PM (#59058730)

        Too funny. Who said anything about no advertisements? There absolutely will be advertisements on there sooner or later, if not immediately. These companies want to maximize their profits. People in the recent past paid them to watch advertisements on cable. What makes you think streaming will be any different?

        • But now the distributor is also the owner of the IP. My local broadcast CBS affiliate doesn't own CSI and doesn't make money on CSI t-shirts, but on commercials and rebroadcast fees from the local cable and satellite company. Disney owns the IP for Star Wars, so them making Star Wars shows to sell movie tickets, toys and t shirts means that they make more money if no one is getting annoyed at Tide commercials and turning the thing off. The whole show is a commercial anyway.
          • Somebody forgot to tell Disney that even the Star Wars franchise would run out of steam - which it did when it was reported today that their Star Wars themed park dragged down profits (a roundabout way of saying it lost money).

            • I thot it had run out of steam @episodeone. But eventually the mouse roared, and the Millenium Falcon has continued to soar.
              Big buildouts are a drain on profits, but they'll report losses for the year and get some good write-offs. And introduce a new generation of mini-mouse ears to a fairy-tale that Disney controls exclusively.

      • Amazon Prime already has pre-roll ads (for their own stuff) and there's no upgrade to get rid of it.

    • We're getting ready to advertise on Disney/ABC. The amount of data they have on everybody is astounding. We can advertise to people based on where they are now, where they work, where they live, how much money they make, their age and sex, how much money they spend, the other places where they spend money in the area, etc. As an advertiser, it's great. As a data point, well...
      • If your product needs to be that targeted then you're just building the market for someone else who will notice and expand to eat your niche. -

        Also, you have to be pretty Internet-naive to believe their data is actually valid, useful, and not open to disappearing when a change in government brings in privacy laws.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by DogDude ( 805747 )
          If your product needs to be that targeted then you're just building the market for someone else who will notice and expand to eat your niche.

          That doesn't make any sense. Every product has a target market.

          Also, you have to be pretty Internet-naive to believe their data is actually valid, useful, and not open to disappearing when a change in government brings in privacy laws.

          It's quite valid and useful, thanks. Everybody with a phone is 100% trackable 24/7, and of course, it's all tied to everythin

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      Now you are also paying for the pipe that carries it in to your house as well as the content.

      Who in 2019 wouldn't want a video capable Internet service for YouTube etc. anyway? I remember when MP3s were big and time consuming to download, in a decade or two most will have forgotten about it on their gigabit fiber link. Median hourly wage in the US now is $18.48, so 40 minutes/month and you've got a huge media bundle with no ads... of course it could always want it for less but even though you pay the distribution somebody has to make the stuff too.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Who honestly didn't see this coming? All the major media companies will buy up all the little players and we will have is all the content rolled up under 2 or 3 big ass players. My prediction is all the content will be rolled up in theses services and will be worse than cable and more expensive. Now you are also paying for the pipe that carries it in to your house as well as the content.

      What's the messaging going on?

      First it's everyone complaining that every tom dick and jane has started their own streaming

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      Do you know something even more interesting. When you are streaming with no ads, the only content you end up being aware of, is the content being provided. Other streaming services attempt to attract you with content, you basically have never heard of, never seen an ad and never seen any episode. So why would anyone swap in the end, you end up swapping to something that streaming content that you have never heard of.

      Living free of screaming advertisements in your own home changes everything. You can not se

    • How is it worse than cable?

      The worst thing about cable is that I can only use it at home. With streaming services I can use it from anywhere on my laptop, my tablet, my phone, etc.

  • Ads? (Score:2)

    by b0bby ( 201198 )

    Does the Hulu included still come with ads? Anytime I think I should try Hulu again, I see the first ad and realize again that it's just not worth it.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      You can pay for ad free - But it doesn't apply to everything (some of the more popular/new stuff has ads on it anyway) No bueno...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Altus ( 1034 )

        ads are pretty much gone from ad free Hulu unless you are paying for the broadcast service. The only time I have seen it has been on trailers (which is weird, it says it isn't covered by ad free but then doesn't play an ad, other than the triailer...). I honestly haven't seen adds on other stuff other than once in a while a single ad at the start of a movie. I know it used to be a lot worse.

        Maybe im just not watching the popular stuff...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AvitarX ( 172628 )

          Some of the shows have a 15 second ad on either of the show, but they're quick, not loud, and don't interrupt.

          It seems ABC makes them do it and they're doing the minimum to fulfill a contract.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      There already is a tier of Hulu with no ads, it costs more of course. You either pay more or watch ads, I think that's fair.

    • Does the Hulu included still come with ads? Anytime I think I should try Hulu again, I see the first ad and realize again that it's just not worth it.

      Yes, the bundle includes ad-filled Hulu. They don't seem to say whether it's possible to pay additional to get ad-free Hulu, but that would probably bump the price up to $18.99 which isn't so great.

  • To me the inclusion of ESPN has no interest so I factor that put, for others that may add to the value.

    So I'm just thinking about the combination of Disney Plus along with Hulu. That starts to seem appealing but....

    Since Hulu has a plan without ads, I have to assume that's the Hulu you get with this bundle. I tried Hulu a few times but have been watching ad-free content so long I just can't take ads anymore, especially the really long unskipable ads Hulu seems to like.

    What this also makes me realize is pr

    • Re:Seems like a good value at first, but maybe not (Score:5, Informative)

      by phalse phace ( 454635 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @03:28PM (#59058750)

      So I'm just thinking about the combination of Disney Plus along with Hulu. That starts to seem appealing but....

      Since Hulu has a plan without ads, I have to assume that's the Hulu you get with this bundle.

      You're getting the basic ad-supported version of Hulu that's $5.99/month, not the ad-free version of Hulu that's $11.99/month.

      Disney’s bundle of Disney+, ESPN+ and ad-supported Hulu will cost $12.99 per month [cnbc.com]

      Disney would almost be giving away Disney+ and ESPN+ if the bundle was for the ad-free version of Hulu. Disney isn't dumb.

      What this $12.99 bundle does is give subscribers ESPN+ for free

      Disney+ = $6.99
      Hulu with ads = $5.99
      ESPN+ = free
      ______________________
      $12.98/month

      What this also makes me realize is probably the base price of Disney+ alone will be an ad-supported versions as well, so now you are looking at more to get an ad-free version of the Disney service alone...

      There will only be 1 version of Disney+ and it will be ad-free

      https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/the-walt-disney-company-spotlights-comprehensive-direct-to-consumer-strategy-at-2019-investor-day/

      Launching in late 2019, Disney+ will be the ultimate streaming destination for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. From The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International segment, Disney+ will offer ad-free programming with a variety of original feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series and short-form content, along with unprecedented access to Disney’s incredible library of film and television entertainment.

      • There will only be 1 version of Disney+ and it will be ad-free

        Thanks for finding where it stated that explicitly, I wasn't sure if I remembered that was made clear or not.

        Also from that link realized the service will release Nov 12th, had not known that before.

        So it remains a great value. The bundle with a worthless ESPN+ and ad-riddled, Hulu, probably not at all what I want.

    • Not just ads - they sell your personal data.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Vrallis ( 33290 )

      Personally I blame ESPN as one factor in the death of bundled cable. Many of us are sick of having it forced down our throats when we have absolutely zero interest in it.

  • I really like Hulu no-ads plan. (Score:3)

    by ITRambo ( 1467509 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @03:05PM (#59058576)
    Since there is no no-ads bundle, I will NEVER try this Disney offering. I loath commercials.

  • Hard pass (Score:3)

    by Arkham ( 10779 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @03:15PM (#59058646)

    I guess someone might want this. I've currently got DirecTV NOW ($50, going to cancel it soon), and Netflix Premium Plan ($16/month) and Prime Video ($119/year). I can't imagine wanting to pay MORE to watch TV. I'd like to ditch all but Prime (since I use it for shipping mostly) if I can convince my wife and kids. Spending $75/month for TV is so 1990s.

  • SexConker announces he's not paying for that shit.

    Even if you're a fan of Disney, the MCU, and new Star Wars, the Disney+ library they've shown so far is extremely thin. Given Disney's library and resources, it should have (nearly) everything. But nope!
    And if you're a fan of that stuff, you're likely not a fan of the shit on ESPN+.
    So the main bonus here is Hulu (with ads).

    Disney seems to be trying to shotgun it and target some ideal of a family that doesn't really exist. Disney+ for the kids and tweens,

    • That such demographics even exist is sad ...

    • Given Disney's library and resources, it should have (nearly) everything. But nope!

      Remember the Disney Vault [wikipedia.org]? Their direct-to-consumer video sales have always been inflated by artificial scarcity. Scarcity in this case that will just mean staying subscribed longer as content gets dripped in and out.

  • The fact that what ESPN+ is must be explained in so many words is telling: nobody wants ESPN+ and would probably just as soon have a bundle without it. Much like they keep asking their cable companies if they have an option to have cable without ESPN, BET, MTV, VH1 and many other channels, but still have History, Comedy Central and Discovery before deciding that dropping cable TV is what they really need to do.

    Just go with Entertainment Sports Programs Network Super! and let it go. I honestly have no idea w

  • Or maybe Disney+ and Hulu? I don't give a rat's ass about ESPN, + or no +. Disney+ and Hulu for no more than $10/mo might be interesting.

  • ...every CFL game, with the exception of a handful that are on the ESPN2, and it's quite popular.

  • Excellent! I can't wait to start saving $12.99/mo by not subscribing. There ain't shit on TeeVee anyway.
  • That includes Disney. Don't give them a dime.

  • I don't watch commercials
    Hulu has the shittiest user interface ever designed
    I don't care much for Disney product (even though I was once an Imagineer)
    Methinks I'm not going to sign up

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