According to a recent estimate, the cost of the ad-free version of Disney+ in the U.S. is currently $10.99 monthly. Which may exceed the market value of the streaming service’s content.
As of Dec. 8, new and continuing U.S. users (who are not on special promotional plans) must pay $3 extra per month—a 38% increase—for Disney+ Premium (without commercials). At the same time, the business introduced Disney+ Basic, the ad-supported plan. It’s now available in the USA for $7.99/month (down from the prior price of the ad-free version of Disney Plus Begin).
However, according to recently disclosed statistics from the research firm Ampere Analysis. Disney+ Premium costs 17% more at $11 per month than the estimated $9.42 market value of the TV series, movies, and specials on the service. The analysis compares the weighted average price for the major U.S. streaming services to the relative market value of content (from both internal and external sources) using Ampere’s popularity and critical rating indicators.
Even with the price increase for the Disneyplus.com/begin ad-free tier, Bob Chapek, the former Disney CEO who was unceremoniously fired last month, had recently stated that “I think we’re extremely underpriced relative to the value we deliver.” Disney+ Premium is still less expensive at $10.99 a month than comparable HBO Max or Netflix packages.
To be fair, the Ampere analysis only considered costs and content from January to July 2023. It does not account for any programming the aforementioned streaming providers have since added. Disney+ has, for instance, released content in the last four months from Marvel’s “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” “Pinocchio,” which stars Tom Hanks as Geppetto, the Star Wars series “Andor,” and the “Toy Story” prequel film “Lightyear.” Therefore, it becomes sense that recent additions might have increased the lineup’s overall market value.
According to Ampere, Paramount+ provided the best value among the country’s top streaming services. With a monthly average price of $6 and almost $8.50 worth of content. HBO Max provided a content value of $12.75/month, below the no-ads current price of $14.99/month. While Netflix delivered a content value of $14.60/month, greater than its average weighted pricing. But lower than the $15.49/month Standard (no advertising) plan. A standalone Prime Video U.S. subscription costs $14.99. So the estimated value of Amazon’s Prime Video content was $10.38 per month per Ampere. However, this cost comparison is more difficult because the majority of Prime Video subscribers have access to the service. Through the larger Prime membership program for $139 per year.
Ampere claimed that based on the data, Paramount+ “had lots of headroom” for pricing increases. While still being competitive with streaming competition. According to the report, while making up only 9% of the titles offered on Paramount+, licensed content, such as “The Brady Bunch” and “Star Trek: The Original Series,” contributed to 28% of the service’s market value. According to Ampere, other library offerings on Paramount+ that raise the service’s worth include the Godfather movie by Francis Ford Coppola, “NCIS,” “CSI,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and “iCarly.”
