FOLLOW US

Another massive American firm is hiking prices, but this time, inflation isn't to blame.

Disney is raising the price of its streaming products and signaled that a price hike could also take place in its theme parks. On Wednesday, the company said the price of Disney+ without ads is jumping $3 per month to $10.99 starting Dec. 8. Hulu with ads will increase by $1 per month to $7.99, and Hulu without ads will jump $2 per month to $14.99.

Then on Thursday, Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek indicated to CNBC’s Julia Boorstin that a price hike will likely be coming at theme parks as long as people keep coming in droves.

“We read demand. We have no plans right now in terms of what we’re going to do, but we operate with a surgical knife here,” Chapek said. “It’s all up to the consumer. If consumer demand keeps up, we’ll act accordingly. If we see a softening, which we don’t think we’re going to see, then we can act accordingly as well.”

Disney strategically limits attendance at its parks, trying to avoid crowding during the pandemic. The move is a way to improve the customer experience. Furthermore, the firm has added Genie+ and Lightning Lane products, which curate guest experience and allow parkgoers to bypass lines for major attractions.

Beyond the parks, Disney annually asks cable-TV providers to pay aggressive price hikes for ESPN because it knows there’s robust demand for its stable of live sports rights.

Disney+ first launched in November 2019 at $6.99 per month. About three years later, that price soared 57%. The service now has more than 152 million customers.

Chapek has experienced his share of bumps in the road since taking over for Bob Iger as Disney CEO. But one thing hasn’t changed: consumers still seem to enjoy what Disney has to offer.