Disney to Bundle DTC Services for $12.99 a Month

The Walt Disney Co., which announced in March that Disney+ would cost just $6.99, announced that it planned to offer its three streaming services in a single low-priced bundle.

Speaking on Disney’s earnings call Tuesday, CEO Bob Iger said that in the United States, consumers will be able to subscribe to a bundle of ESPN+, Disney+ and the ad-supported version of Hulu for $12.99 a month.

The bundle will be available when Disney+ is launched on Nov. 12.

Related: Disney Reports Lower Earnings for Q3

Disney reported lower earnings as it integrated assets from 21st Century Fox. But Iger said those assets were an important part of moving quickly in to the direct-to-consumer business.

“Nothing is more important to us than getting this right,” Iger said, adding that Disney expects the 21st Century Fox acquisition to be accretive by fiscal 2021.

Marketing for Disney+ is going to begin later this month at the D23 conference, where attendees will be able to be the first to sign up. "It's the most important product the company has launched," he said.

Iger said Disney has been in talks about distributing Disney+ with Apple, Amazon and Google and said he expected to get a deal done before the service launches. “We think it’s important to achieve sale relatively quickly,” he said, adding that those digital companies are interested in distributing the product.

Disney also provided updated subscriber numbers, saying that at the end of the quarter, ESPN+ had 2.4 million subscribers and Hulu had 28 million. 

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.