Disney+ raises its prices in the UK by up to £36/YEAR today – and you’ll have to endure adverts if you want to pay less

Disney+ customers in Britain will now have to pay up to an extra £36 a year to watch TV shows and films.

The streaming giant has introduced a price hike from today along with the launch of a new, cheaper option for its service with ads.

Until now there has only been one price for Disney+ in the UK – £7.99 per month or £79.90 per year.

But as of today, the platform has brought three new tiers: the Standard package with ads, which is priced at £4.99 per month; Standard without ads for £7.99 per month; And a premium option for £10.99 per month.

This means that UK subscribers who were enjoying a 4K HDR experience with Dolby Atmos audio will now have to pay an extra £3 per month to retain their existing features, representing an effective price rise of £36 per year.

Those with an annual subscription will pay £30 more as the premium annual option is priced at £109.90.

The ad-supported plan was first introduced in the US in December last year, but is now being rolled out across Canada and other parts of Europe as well as the UK.

It will cost Disney+ customers in Britain the same ad-supported tier that Netflix launched last year.

That’s not the case for users in the US, where the cheapest option offered by Disney+ is $1 less per month than its competition.

But both are similar in features.

They stream at 1080p, offer 5.1 audio and support two simultaneous streams, while neither of them allow you to download TV shows or movies.

You get an average of four minutes of ads per hour with both, but Disney+ has confirmed that its movies will be different from TV shows because they won’t be interrupted.

Instead, they will appear as previews before the movie starts.

The next big streaming company to enter the ad stakes will be Amazon, which said it will launch a new Prime Video category early next year in the US, UK, Canada and Germany.

If you don’t want to endure ads when watching Disney+, there are two other options.

The first – the “Standard No Ads” package – will give customers the ability to download videos to watch offline on up to 10 different devices.

Meanwhile, the premium option includes downloads, 4K video, and the ability to use the account on up to four different devices simultaneously.

Luke Bradley-Jones, General Manager of Disney+ EMEA, said: “Today’s launch represents a significant milestone for Disney+ in the UK, providing customers the flexibility to choose the plan that suits their needs and budget.

All our customers can enjoy a wide range of original TV series and award-winning blockbuster films, including “The Bear,” “Elemental” and “Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story” on FX, as well as fan favorites like Season. 2 from Marvel Studios’ “Loki” and the latest series of “The Simpsons” and “Grey’s Anatomy”.

In August, Disney announced this Following in the footsteps of a competing streaming service Netflix By revealing plans to eliminate password sharing.

The company has been struggling to reverse declining profits amid a sharp decline in ad sales and poor box office performances for many of its recent films.

CEO Bob Iger said at the time that Disney was exploring account sharing for streaming and would provide additional details on how it plans to limit it later this year.

Things aren’t all rosy for Netflix either.

Just last month, the streaming giant announced it would be raising its prices for millions of UK customers, with some now facing monthly fees of up to £17.99 – an increase of £2 per month.

Its ad-free premium plan now costs £17.99 per month in the UK – an increase of £2, while the standard subscription will remain at £10.99 per month.

Industry experts have suggested that higher prices will help Netflix make up for the shortfall in revenue lost due to the Hollywood actors’ strike.

The company was forced to postpone at least 43 shows and films due to industrial action.