That being said, there is some potentially good news for those who don’t want to pay for a subscription. In a report from The Information (paywall), it has been suggested that Disney could actually be considering an ad-supported tier for Disney+, meaning that it could be priced cheaper in exchange for ads.
What’s interesting about this move is that it isn’t entirely out of the question. Discovery+ and Paramount+ already offered ad-supported tiers at $4.99 a month. There is also Hulu, whose majority share is owned by Disney, who offers an ad-supported tier, so for Disney+ to eventually make this move makes sense.
Streaming services typically hike up their prices over time as they make a lot of investments into original programming as well as paying for the licenses for shows belonging to other studios. This is to be expected, so an ad-supported tier can help ease some of that burden on customers in exchange for ads inserted into shows. Disney hasn’t officially announced anything yet, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for when they do.