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The price of an ESPN+ subscription will rise to
$9.99 per month starting Aug. 23, while the cost of an annual
subscription will go up to $99.99 from $69.99. Subscribers will
be officially notified next week.
However, the fee for those getting a bundle of all of Disney's
streaming services, including Hulu and Disney+, will not get
impacted, the company said.
Shares of Disney rose nearly 4% in afternoon trading.
ESPN+, which offers more than 22,000 live events, including top
leagues across many sports, last raised its monthly and annual
subscription fees in the United States in July last year.
(https://reut.rs/3PiCbRG)
Over the last year and half, Disney said it has added expanded
National Football League (NFL) rights, expanded its rights to
Wimbledon and the Australian Open, renewed rights for the
popular FA Cup and more on ESPN+.
Media companies have been searching for new ways to generate
more revenue amid reduced ad spending and strong competition in
the congested streaming market, with Disney betting on a strong
comeback from live-sports streaming from a pandemic-led lull.
Netflix Inc, on the other hand, has teamed up with Microsoft
Corp for its planned ad-supported subscription offering, as it
looks to plug slowing subscriber growth by rolling out a cheaper
plan.
(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna
Chandra Eluri and Shailesh Kuber)
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