Warner Bros. Discovery is bumping the price of its ad-free version of Discovery+ in the U.S. and Canada, marking the first price hike since the service launched in 2021.
The cost for ad-free Discovery+ in the U.S. is increasing by $2, from $6.99 to $8.99 per month, plus taxes. The ad-lite version is staying the same in the U.S. at $4.99 per month. Viewers in Canada will also see a $2 per month price increase for the tier without ads, while the cost for an ad-lite subscription will jump by $1 to $5.99 CAD per month. The price changes go into effect for new subscribers now, while existing customers will see the rate bump on their next billing cycle on or after November 1.
In announcing the price raise, WBD noted it’s the first one since Discovery+ debuted in January 2021.
“This will allow us to continue to provide can’t miss stories in the food, home, relationships, true crime, paranormal genres – plus so much more,” stated WBD.
It’s worth noting that much Discovery+ content migrated to the Max SVOD service when it launched in May under the rebranded product that also incorporates HBO Max. Separately, Max is poised to get new live sports content as the Bleacher Report Sports streaming add-on launches Thursday. The live sports add-on doesn’t cost extra through February 29, 2024, at which time it will shift to an additional $9.99 per month on top of the cost for a Max subscription.
Several streamers have implemented price hikes as they seek profitability over straight subscriber growth, and as some look to drive users to ad-supported tiers that generate advertising revenue. WBD’s announcement comes as the Wall Street Journal reported that Netflix also plans to raise the price of its ad-free tier in the months following the conclusion of what was a continued Hollywood writers strike. The report didn’t reveal how much a subscription without ads will increase by, but citing people familiar with the matter as saying they would likely begin with the U.S. and Canada.
Disney in August announced price increases for ad-free plans on Disney+ and Hulu, while CEO Bob Iger commented that he was very optimistic on the long-term advertising opportunity for streaming.
“The advertising marketplace for streaming is picking up, it’s more healthy than the advertising marketplace for linear television,” Iger said in August. “We believe in the future of advertising on our streaming platforms, both Disney Plus and Hulu, and we’re obviously trying with our pricing strategy to migrate more subs to the advertiser supported tier.”
At an investor conference in September, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish discussed plans for an additional price increase on Paramount+, after the company didn’t see negative impacts on churn following an earlier price bump in June, giving it more confidence in price elasticity.