Disney CEO Defends Price of Ad-Supported Disney+, Expects to Reach At Least 135 Million Subscribers by 2024

While it’s no surprise that customers are a bit concerned over the announced price increases coming to Disney+ and Hulu later this year, Disney CEO Bob Chapek still thinks that they will be getting a great deal, whether they are subscribing a la carte, or to the Disney Bundle.

On Wednesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, the CEO was asked about the fact that the price for Disney+’s upcoming ad-supported tier will be the same as the current price for Disney+, which for the time being is ad-free. Chapek noted that upon launch, the price point for Disney+ was purposely set lower than market value in order to attract customers to the new service.

“I think everybody in the room would probably acknowledge, the launch of Disney+ at that introductory price was pretty absurd. It was so attractive to the consumer,” he said. “And what have we done since then? We’ve continually invested and reinvested and taken up our investment and taken up our investment again. So the value proposition to our customers is extraordinary.”

When asked about the 38% price increase planned for ad-free Disney+, Chapek was no less willing to stand his ground and assured investors that he’s not too worried about subscriber churn when the price increases take effect.

“I think it’s what the market will bear, which is a direct reflection of price value. And I think we’re way underpriced relative to the value that we provide. Therefore, we owe it to our shareholders to try to get that recognized,” he said. “I don’t think if we came out at a more moderate price to start with, people would be looking at where we’re at now and say, ‘Oh my gosh, you took such a big price increase.’ It’s only relative to where we started, but I think everyone recognizes that, that’s a tremendous value.”

Whether the average streaming customer recognizes that value or not, Chapek has not pulled back on targets for subscription numbers and expects the launch of the ad-supported Disney+ to help reach the company’s lofty goals. The company expects to hit between 135 and 165 million core Disney+ subscribers by the end of 2024.

“I think [ad-supported Disney+] just puts wind in our sales in terms of being able to achieve the numbers that we stated,” he said. “And given our success in the ad business on the Hulu side, and the considerable ARPU [average revenue per user] impact that has, I think it’s going to aid not only getting the actual sub goal itself, but also hitting that operating income target.”

Disney already reaches 221 million customers globally with all of its streaming services (including Hulu and ESPN+) combined, so the numbers should certainly be within reach. The House of Mouse has already nearly reached monolithic size in terms of its presence in media and entertainment, but that profile will only be growing.