Disney+, Hulu and Max bundle price, release date announced
Dragons, Jedis, Marvel and DC superheroes, Harry Potter, Disney princesses – and more from Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery – are now available to stream for a discounted monthly price.
The new streaming bundle of Disney+, Hulu and Max will go on sale in the US from Thursday, July 25. Eligible new and existing subscribers can purchase the three-way bundle for $16.99/month with ads and $29.99/month without ads.
On the ad-supported side, that’s a savings of up to 38.8% compared to the price of the services purchased separately (Disney+ Basic for $7.99, Hulu with Ads for $7.99, Max With Ads for $9, 99). You can save almost 35% on the ad-free bundle compared to regular monthly standalone pricing (Disney+ Premium for $13.99, Hulu without ads for $17.99, and Max Ad-Free for $16.99).
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery – who are otherwise fierce competitors – announced plans for the bundle in early May. The bundle is only available in the US and offers content from every media company’s portfolio of brands, including Disney, HBO, Hulu, Warner Bros. Pictures, FX, ABC, Marvel, Pixar, Searchlight, Star Wars, CNN, DC, Discovery, Food Network and HGTV.
The strategy for the media companies is to increase engagement and reduce churn (i.e. cancellations), given the evidence that consumers who take discounted bundles have higher retention rates. In a similar collaboration, Disney, WBD and Fox Corp. looking to launch the Venu Sports bundle of live channels in the fall.
In a sense, the Disney+-Hulu-Max bundle represents a step toward reconstructing the consolidated package of pay TV — which has been steadily eroding in recent years amid the proliferation of cheaper streaming options.
Consumers can only sign up for the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle through direct-billed purchases online, directly through the Max, Disney+, or Hulu websites. Existing subscribers can switch from their current Max, Disney+ or Hulu subscription to the bundle; however, neither Hulu + Live TV nor the Max Ultimate Ad-Free plan are available as part of the bundle offer.
To support the launch, a coordinated, cross-platform national marketing campaign will launch today, focusing on each streamer’s collection of favorite TV shows, movies and characters. The carefully tailored campaign includes a powerful blitz across national broadcast, social, digital and owned and managed channels. (Watch the 60-second version of the spot below.)
In industry jargon, the Disney+-Hulu-Max combo is a “synthetic” bundle, meaning the services remain operationally separate (i.e. you can access each service in its associated app). That contrasts with a “hard” bundle that fully integrates separate streaming packages into one user experience, as Disney has done by merging Hulu with Disney+ for customers of both.
The new bundle reflects “a restructuring of the way people view content,” WBD CEO David Zaslav said in May. “I lived through a generation of disruption – not as big as this – but you know, when my career started, when the cable industry was a real disruption,” he said. “And as we look at what will happen in the future, there will likely be a restructuring of the way people view content.”
Meanwhile, Netflix — in a flex that reflects its market-leading position — said in its second-quarter shareholder letter last week that it has not entered into direct bundling deals with other streamers such as Disney+ or Max “because Netflix already operates as a go-to destination for entertainment thanks to the breadth and variety of our offering and the superior product experience.”
Disney and WBD touted the wide range of content available across the trio of services in the new bundle. The lineup includes “Family Guy,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “The Simpsons”; film franchises such as Disney’s Frozen, Marvel’s Avengers, Star Wars and Pixar’s Toy Story; and Warner Bros. Discovery film and TV franchises such as Batman, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon.” Upcoming original premieres include Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” season 4 (August 27), “Agatha All Along” on Disney+ (September 18) and “The Penguin” on Max (September).
SEE ALSO: Streaming bundles are all the rage, but they can’t bring back the glory days of pay TV
Watch the 60-second version of the Disney+-Hulu-Max bundle spot:
