Disney+ hiking prices in South Africa

Disney+ has confirmed that it will implement a price hike from 6 November 2024 for new customers, while existing customers will start paying a higher price from 6 December this year.

The Disney+ subscription fee is set to increase from R139 per month to R159 per month, representing a 14.39% increase.

“Pricing will increase in select markets globally at different times throughout the remainder of the calendar year, as per our previous earnings call,” Disney told MyBroadband.

“The pricing increase will take effect from 6 November for new customers, with existing customers from 6 December onwards, depending on their platform. Existing customers will be notified of the price increase from early November.”

Assuming its annual subscription price formula remains the same, these subscribers will pay R1,590 per year following the price increases.

“The new pricing reflects the increasing scope, scale and value of our streaming services, including access to Disney’s unparalleled, award-winning content,” said Disney.

The streaming platform is currently running a promotion where new subscribers can pay R49 per month for the first three months before the price increase hits. The deal is valid from 12 to 27 September 2024.

“Existing mobile subscribers will be able to upgrade to Disney+ Premium with this promo,” Disney added.

This will be the second price increase implemented by the streaming service since it launched in May 2022.

At launch, the Disney+ monthly subscription was R119. Subscribing for a year offers two months free, and initially cost R1,190 per year.

Disney announced its first price hike in June 2023, with the increases taking effect on 19 July that year. The R20 price hike increased the subscription fee to R139 per month — an increase of 16.8%.

From 19 July 2023, annual subscribers have paid R1,390 per year.

The table below shows Disney+’s price hikes since it first launched locally.

Subscription	2022	2023	2024	Overall increase
Monthly	R119	R139	R159	33.61%
Annual	R1,190	R1,390	R1,590
Annual plan savings	R238.00 (16.7%)	R278.00 (16.7%)	R318.00 (16.7%)	0%