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Credit: DisneyDisney+ has been going through a hard time as of late, and now, it seems that users are not only looking to revert away from the streaming platform, but looking to revert, in time, to DVD players following recent complex changes to Disney+.
When Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, Max, and more hit the market, subscribers loved it because they were able to pay a small monthly fee to be able to watch their favorite shows and movies without having commercials every 7 minutes, much like cable TV has. The price of Disney+ or Netflix was far less than a cable bill, and soon after inception, these platforms would soon create their own titles as they fully battled cable TV with new original content.
Recently, Disney held their Q3 2023 Earnings Call. Here we saw that direct-to-consumer sales have increased 9%. That being said, Disney+ subscribers have dropped to 146.1 million. Disney’s goal for Disney+ subscribers was 154.8 million, so this now falls short. Disney’s “core” consumers increased by 1% — regardless, we are starting to see subscribers drop off now that Disney has begun to reduce the amount of content they are able to bring to their audience, the people paying for these services on a month-to-month basis.
Disney CEO Bob Iger continued to discuss how they have raised prices across Disney+ prices and that ad-supported Disney+ subscription service options have been purchased by 40% of users. Ad-free bundles will also be coming to the US for Disney+ and Hulu, which will in turn, cost more as their current ad-free options do, increasing Disney+ revenue.
Related: Disney+’s End Fortified Following Paid Ad Price Hike, Fans Devastated
Iger also announced that they’ll be cracking down on password sharing, making it impossible to split the cost of Disney+ with friends or family.
In less than a year, Disney+ will be increasing the monthly cost of its ad-free plan up $3 to $13.99 in October. Hulu, which Disney owns a majority stake in, will also increase the monthly cost of its ad-free subscription up $3 to $17.99.
Disney+ is currently in the midst of a historic content purge, which has garnered the attention of fans from around the world. Disney removed more than 50 titles from both Disney+ and Hulu, including dozens of full-length films and series, in an attempt to cut costs. Now, having made it to Q3, we can see that this content disposal campaign has not helped their Disney+ numbers.
We have seen tons of content lost on the platform, including Hulu as well, which has left many fans upset. Disney has been removing original titles to which they own the rights for, which has left their users confused and wanting to leave due to the lack of content currently available on the service..
Now, more subscribers are considering canceling, but this time, to make a very different change in the way they consume content.
One future ex-Disney+ subscriber said, “I typically only use Disney+ for my daughter (14months) to watch Bluey and Disney/Pixar movies like The Lion King. My husband and I used to be very into Marvel movies but barely watch them now. I’m thinking I should cancel Disney+ and buy Bluey on DVD and start getting a Disney/Pixar DVD collection going. Has anyone done this? Streaming is just getting ridiculous these days. DVDs sound uncomplicated.”
It seems that the desire to leave Disney+ following the announcement of price hikes, the ban on password sharing, and the dilution of content is strong with many who don’t want to deal with anything complicated. Another reader chimed in agreement, “I have a physical media collection, been collecting for 20 years, and it far surpasses any service at this point because it is a collection covering every company and is 100% content that we want to watch and enjoy.”
The reader continued, “When you buy a disc…YOU OWN THE CONTENT. Disney can’t take it away like they did Willow (quality of show notwithstanding).” This comment is in regard to the many movies and shows that both Disney+ and Hulu removed from the platform.
The idea of canceling streaming subscriptions and going back to DVDs is seemingly becoming a more popular choice.
Related: Disney Will No Longer Be Selling Physical Marvel DVDs
Another said, “That sounds like an amazing collection!! Reminds me of going over to my friend’s houses growing up and seeing their DVD collections and being jealous I didn’t have as many cool options at home as them. I feel like I just rewatch the same content over and over, so I might as well get it on DVD and own it. We already cancelled Netflix a few months ago, Disney is about to be next!
For now, we are certainly seeing a lot more negativity and subscriber losses when it comes to Disney+, and even major Marvel and Star Wars series are no longer holding Guests to stay on the platform long-term.
Would you ditch Disney+ and go back to using your DVD player?