Disney+ currently has one subscription plan, with no advertising and a total cost of $7.99 per month (or $79.99 per year). However, there’s a cheaper plan in the works that will be subsidized with advertisements — much like the base Hulu plan or HBO Max’s $9.99/mo option. Netflix is also working on a less expensive subscription with advertising, which is expected to arrive near the end of 2022.
Disney executives told The Wall Street Journal that the cheaper Disney+ plan will have an average of four minutes of commercials per hour of watch time. That’s definitely fewer interruptions than you’d see on YouTube and many other ad-supported streaming platforms, and roughly similar to HBO Max with Ads and the base Hulu plan. That’s also much less advertising than cable TV.
The company’s interview also revealed a few details about how the ads will work. Disney itself is handling advertisement placements, the service won’t show advertisements on profiles for preschool children, and the company isn’t allowing advertisers to choose which shows or films their ads will appear on. Those factors combined should make Disney+ a much better app to leave your children alone with than YouTube and some other competitors, and the ad-free option will still exist at the same $7.99/month price.
Disney appears to be taking a hardline stance against advertising to young children to differentiate itself from YouTube, which has had repeated problems with inappropriate videos targeted at children, often referred to as “Elsagate” — because Elsa from Disney’s Frozen is commonly portrayed in videos. A study conducted by Common Sense Media and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in 2020 reported that the YouTube Kids app still displayed advertisements for whiskey, politics, and violent video games, among other topics some parents might find inappropriate.
Disney still hasn’t said how much the ad-supported version of Disney+ will cost. It will become available sometime later this year.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
