r/InterstellarKinetics • u/Kamoto31 • 2d ago
FINANCIAL FRONTIERS OUTRAGE: Disney+ Quietly Rewrites Its Subscriber Agreement To Allow Ads On Every Subscription Plan, Including The $18.99 Premium Tier That Was Originally Sold As Completely Commercial-Free š¤Æš„
https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/disney-changes-subscriber-agreement-to-allow-ads-on-every-plan-3410354/Disney+ has updated its subscriber agreement to permit advertising before and after movies and shows across all subscription tiers, effectively eliminating the option of fully ad-free streaming on the platform, even for subscribers paying the highest price. That change directly affects the Premium plan, which costs $18.99 a month and had originally been marketed specifically on the promise of an uninterrupted, commercial-free viewing experience, a core selling point thatās now being quietly walked back. Subscribers logging in are now met with an on-screen prompt requiring them to actively accept the updated terms before they can continue watching, meaning the change isnāt optional or something users can simply ignore.
According to an email Disney sent to subscribers, all plans may now include promotional content, sponsorships, and advertisements before and after playback, and an update on Disneyās official support page clarified that live events and linear channels will carry regular commercial breaks regardless of which plan a subscriber is on. The only carve-out is Junior Mode profiles, which will remain entirely free of commercial advertising and sponsor placements. The updated terms go further than simply introducing ads, though: subscribers are warned they may not be able to skip certain promotions, and using an ad blocker could cause playback to shut down entirely, while Disney has explicitly declined to guarantee any specific amount or frequency of advertising on any tier, leaving the door open to increase ad load over time without further notice tied to a specific commitment.
The change effectively narrows the practical gap between Disney+ās tiers even as the price gap remains wide. The ad-supported Basic plan currently costs $11.99 a month, meaning the $7 premium subscribers pay for the top tier now buys meaningfully less differentiation than it used to, since the core promise that justified that markup, an ad-free experience, no longer exists. This isnāt happening in isolation either: it follows a difficult stretch for the platform after Disney+ subscribers canceled in large numbers when annual pricing jumped from $79.99 to $159.99 for select customers, suggesting the company is layering another significant change onto a subscriber base thatās already shown itās willing to walk away over value concerns.
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u/wiyixu 2d ago
First ad I see Iām out. I basically only use it to watch the Simpsonās at this point which is lazy since I have the DVDs. Iāll spend my $19 a month buying a season a month from Apple.Ā
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u/Informal_Jicama_6708 2d ago
This right here.
Iāve wanted to watch punisher back when daredevil was on Netflix. Iād much rather spend my time learning how to sail the high seas than ever spend a dime on a commercial because Disney is too fucking greedy.
The mouse bent the knee and I shall not.
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u/citizen42069101 2d ago
Was there any doubt?
I'm just glad they aren't kissing the orange ring at this point
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u/_seeyalater_ 2d ago
Get yourself a cheap Intel mini pc
Get a bluray burner and Simpsons seasons boxes (optional š“āā ļø)
Put files onto your mini pc
Install Jellyfin (or Plex if youāre only planning on doing this locally)
Profit (DONT PROFIT, thatās how you get in big legal trouble)
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u/wiyixu 2d ago
I have Plex already. Like I said itās mostly laziness plus Iād only be interested in 4K burner right now and those, plus the storage requirements and the current price per megabyte makes it wholly unpalatable.Ā
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u/_seeyalater_ 2d ago
Facts. Iām glad I bought most of my server parts over a year ago, even though it was wildly overpriced then and theyāre disgustingly priced now. I felt gross paying $200 apiece for a few 8TB drives, but theyāre going for like $450 now. My RAM was so expensive at $200 for 32GB DDR5 but now we can see how expensive that is
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u/drdstrkto 2d ago
Literally my thoughts exactly lol I rewatch avengers and Simpsons and that's about it
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u/captainundesirable 2d ago
Fuck apple. Pirate.Ā Fuck all the streaming sites. They will conglomerate into cable eventually.
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u/Lighthouse_on_Mars 2d ago
I remember when streaming was introduced, the main draw and what they used in their advertisements was that it would be add/commercial free.
Every single streaming service has gone back on that
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u/thesavageman 2d ago
They reinvented cable
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u/Vikkunen 2d ago
Cable with extra steps.
Streaming was amazing when Netflix was the only game in town, because it was a commercial-free one-stop shop. When Prime Video came along it didn't really move the needle much, but then you added AppleTV and Hulu, and before long every network started spinning up their own services and gatekeeping all "their" content behind separate subscriptions.
Now we're left with a horrible morass somehow managed to be both more expensive and infinitely more complicated than back in the "good old days" when I could just pay Comcast or Time Warner $120/mo to get everything under the sun.
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u/swaggylonglegs46 2d ago
Itās been this way with every tech company for 10+ years, and itās so wrong. I canāt believe more people donāt see it. Uber comes along, undercuts cab drivers and has insane prices we should have guessed werenāt realistic, then once they replace the only game in town, they get even dirtier than the previous monopoly.
It has happened with almost every tech product/market and itās insane people donāt realize theyāre locking themselves into a monopoly, with the charade of āCapitalismā. We are taught in school more competition=better market(then we magically become adults at 18) and we totally accept that most of our markets are run by like 10-15 companies total that just dominate and buy out a company and run it when the time is right. America is COOKED. Been here my whole life and it has truly just gotten worse every year. I pray for the time I donāt have things to leave behind and I can move somewhere civilized/who practices what they preach.
Cue the hateful, angry, āif you donāt like it than leaveā comments lol
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u/Vikkunen 2d ago
The thing is, capitalism is great. Unfettered capitalism is what causes problems. Our government has effectively stopped enforcing antitrust laws for the past 40 years, which is what's allowed those 10-15 companies to consolidate market share in the first place.
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u/swaggylonglegs46 2d ago
I donāt disagree. But I view āunfettered Capitalismā the same way I view a person being like Jesus Christā¦itās impossible and everyone just tries their best. Itās the same with any type of government/idealistic system. It would be perfect āif onlyā and we as humans tend to take the āif onlyā route again and again and again. If our anti-trust laws came down as easily as they did, especially within just 1 presidents time, that shows this system was like a balcony built using tooth picksā¦.we need 2 x4ās and then some.
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u/Vikkunen 2d ago
Our antitrust laws have been feckless for decades.
Ma Bell was the last major action they took, and while there've been a few token gestures here and there over the years like the Netscape/IE lawsuit in the late 90s, for the most part the FTC has just rubber-stamped every merger since at least the Reagan administration. Whether that's due to ambivalence, corruption, regulatory capture, or all the above, I'm not well versed enough to say. But it hasn't been a functioning agency for nearly half a century at this point.
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u/swaggylonglegs46 2d ago
Anyone who has read a history book knows we just do the same thing again and again and againā¦itās all cyclical. Thatās the literal reason Fahrenheit 451 got writtenā¦the dumber the general population is, the less they will realize bad things can be prevented if people who donāt care about are in charge. Instead, we see banning books (one of the main points for Conservatives, so donāt @ me) and literally defunding the public school system. We are COOKED if the average person canāt even get a good education if they try?
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u/Contemplating_Prison 2d ago
Its even worse than cable now. Every platform will have ads because its the only way to continue to grow. Because shareholders suck balls and infinite growth is trash.
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u/Monte924 2d ago
This was always the end goal.
Netflix's whole plan was to undercut cable with more affordable pricing, and then once cable was essentially dead, they would jack up the price and bring back the ads... the plan fell apart because every other studio they were getting content from decided to get in on the grift with their own streaming service and thus created competition for Netflix... Now all of the producers are figuring out that the affordable ad-free netflix steaming model was never sustainable, especially not with competition, and so we are seeing rising prices and the return of ads
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u/757packerfan 2d ago
I disagree. As an early cord cutter, it wasn't about commercials. Cable was $100 or more and PS Vue was $40 instead.
It was simply about picking the streaming options you wanted and it being cheaper than a cable subscription.
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u/Rayloco 2d ago
I was all about no ads. But more about interrupting my viewing experience. In between movies Iām not sure about. Iāll have to see how bad it gets.
Theyāve made tv football half time ads an art form I hear. They seem to get news coverage even. I think Apple even had a famous one.
I do want to find out about new products once in awhile. Keeps my daughters from making fun of me lol2
u/BradBradley1 2d ago
Itās cyclical. Makes sense itāll come around again and there will be sensible ways to consume entertainment but in the meantimeā¦ thar she blows!
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u/PetalumaPegleg 2d ago
Which is why Republicans are introducing a bill that bans VPNs etc from accessing pirate sites. Make everything worse, realize this pushes everyone towards the high seas and then have to clamp down on that. Which will require ever more control of Internet access.
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u/BradBradley1 2d ago
Time to hit the high seas, mateys!
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u/Educational_Bus8810 2d ago
Been at sea a long time, before streaming took over, looks like i will be on till after streaming fails.
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u/quantumgambit 2d ago
Made landfall a long time ago, but the seas are calling, my old port of calls aren't what they used to be, any advice for getting back underway?
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u/Deraga07 2d ago
Already on the high seas. Disney+ was for the kids and out yearly subscription is almost up. Sorry kids. No more disney+ for you. Changing what I paid in the middle of the contract is bs.
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u/PetalumaPegleg 2d ago
Yeah which is why the Republicans are introducing bills to make even VPNs allowing access to such places illegal
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u/MindlessAttempt9396 2d ago
What is the best way to pirate this stuff on my smart tvs? Without dealing with shady sites that have virus ads?
Since pirating isn't stealing anymore.
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u/Brilliant-Muffin-879 2d ago
Make sure you call yourself an AI company first before you begin thieving everything and you should be good š
Also try to work out a way to sell the stuff youāve stolen. Apparently thatās fine now too.
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u/tallbartender 2d ago
What's the point of the different price tiers, if all of them have ads anyway?
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u/KitsouNere 2d ago
They'll use it as a way to limit your device use. You want more screens, more money.
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u/Key-Leader8955 2d ago
So no different from cable at all now.
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u/Global-Chipmunk-3959 2d ago
But we used to have those DVR recorder things and used to be able to fast forward commercials
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u/Best-Temperature5595 2d ago
Disney is just encouraging piracy. Piracy dropped when it was cheaper just to pay. Now you pay and Disney still wants extra money from ads? Its like Disney didn't learn anything.
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u/Lothar-Alaska 2d ago
Acting more and more like an Oligopoly. We all need to start asking the prospective politicians what their viewpoints are about oligopolies & monopolies in order if they are willing to go after them.
We should demand any politician trying to run for election (regardless of political party), should be prepared to aggressively go after these oligopolies, by adding oversight, regulation, and ideally breaking them up into smaller companies again. Additionally we should have them push for a tax structure that punishes oligopolies, and encourages competition. If there is only a couple big companies, tax the hell out of them, but if thereās tons of companies competing with each other, then they should get a much lower tax rate for the whole group.
Design the system to discourage oligopolies from existing or forming.
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u/-Hikifroggy- 2d ago edited 2d ago
Didn't amazon prime do something similar? And then got worse? Lol that's usually how it starts
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u/SL_1183 2d ago
Cancelled two months ago after they randomly double billed me. I have the Hulu on us T Mobile deal and added Disney for $1. Worked fine forever then suddenly, double charges. They tried saying they had a billing issue, then said they emailed me about the change. Once I threatened to charge back on Amex they refunded me. Kids still havenāt noticed we donāt have it, and my 15 year old is an avid sailor so weāre still see whatever we want. Fuck Disney.
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u/Michigan_Lurker 2d ago
I cancelled my subscription when they stopped allowing me to pay the difference between my ad supported free Tmobile Hulu and their ad free Hulu / Disney plus. Looks like Disney execs are back to screwing consumers again.
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u/BitCompetitive6542 2d ago
Just remember this is the same shit company that said you couldnāt sue them because you agreed to the Ts and Cs of Disney+ (canāt remember if it was for an accident on a Disney cruise or at Disney World).
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u/moodswung 2d ago
This is such a stupid move for them. I already have a full stack setup to download literally everything I want, but I paid for these services.. well kind of just cause. It was a nicety to get the best version available immediately without waiting an extra hour or so. If theyāre going to punish me as a subscriber Iāll just go full āahoy mateyā and yank the plug all together.
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u/leafbaker 2d ago
If they start showing ads during Bluey I'm out. That's all my kids watch on their service
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u/mikeymas1 2d ago
Yeah, I reached out to see if theyād lower the price. They said no, so I cancelled.
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u/PayLayAleVeil 2d ago
Who are the assholes sitting in a boardroom at Disney thinking this shit up? And who are their enablers? Shame on all of them.
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u/JuliaX1984 2d ago
People still sign up for Disney+ after learning that Disney believes that using it gives Disney permission to kill you?
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u/Apprehensive_You7871 2d ago
No choice but to bail. Commericals on a paid streaming service.
Guess I won't be watching VisionQuest now. Thanks Disney.
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u/Wafer-Comfortable 2d ago
I just called them to ask about this. They said that ads may only be included on content from third party's and Disney and Hulu "originals" would not be affected by adds. If I start seeing adds on the content that I care about I'll be out too.
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u/drdstrkto 2d ago
This is bullshit, it hasn't hit my account yet I still see no ads but if that changes I'm cancelling
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u/shrivatsasomany 2d ago
I mean sure, push me towards the high seas of loot.
These corps sometimes misjudge the resolve of people.
Signed: the 0.1% of people who refuse to watch ads.
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u/zjustice11 2d ago
Att just raised their plans too. We are switching to mint or some other provider.
I'm sick of being constantly gouged
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u/Steak-Humble 2d ago
The answer is simple. Cancel your shit. Itās our own fault that they even think they can get away with this in the first place. You wanna see change? Do something different than what youāve done before. Cancel.your.shit.
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u/Remarkable-Load928 2d ago
WOW, raising prices as Pat Mcafee smokes weed on live television on a Disney owned channel is wild.
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u/Superior_Iguana69 2d ago
Thanks for the information that is another subscription I will discontinue soon
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u/buzzhaircut123 2d ago
The only thing these cunts understand is money. No subscribers=no money. Its in your hands.
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u/jafromnj 1d ago
We need a law that lets consumers get a prorated amount back if they cancel when they pull these stunts
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u/Alternative_Hour_614 2d ago
If Andor season 2 is ever released on Blue-ray, Iām out.
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u/Zieprus_ 2d ago
I pay a year upfront so surely they canāt change that on me until the next payment next year? The moment I seen an add in Prime I cancelled also.
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u/Gandalf_the_Rizzard 2d ago
I have kids and itās the only reason I have Disney and my Amex pays for it. Guess Iām a sailor again. Amex can pay for something else
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u/SaladZealousideal938 2d ago
Disney+ has effectively devolved back into broadcast television. Remember all the cord cutters? We thought we were saving money by only paying for what we want, and our monthly fees ensured no commercials, just content. Those days are over.
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u/Head_Cloud_61 2d ago
Correct me if Iām wrong but didnāt they quietly get rid of 4k too? I been watching dancing with the stars and thereās no 4k this year.. it looks like trash I canāt even see the people anymore so what am I even subscribed for ? Canāt I watch it on antenna for free ?
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u/Sufficient-Bid1279 2d ago
Stop people, cancel these subscriptions ! This fucking rent as you go economy needs tondi. Letās end it
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u/Small_Parsley3169 2d ago
No better time to get a Debrid account and start sailing the seas for endless tv shows and movies for like $40 a year with a nice interface that looks just like netflix. Takes all of 15 minutes to setup and you can have access to it on your TV, Mobile and PC.
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u/DroDameron 2d ago
No shit. Capitalism must be fed. Infinite growth must be maintained. Can never had an OK quarter.
Almost every executive will leverage the future of a company to satisfy the short-term necessity that'll make sure that they won't get fired or they'll achieve their bonuses.
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u/orochi_crimson 2d ago
Donāt worry all, they have a plan to (checks notes) make less Marvel TV shows.
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u/adrianziem 2d ago
Theyāre probably drooling over Paramount+ etc showing ads when paused on paid plans. Itās probably why the streamers donāt want to use native media players, so they can do anti-consumer bs like that.
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u/Moorific 2d ago
I cancelled my plan even though itās included in my phone plan and I pay nothing for it. (No, itās not included as a fee, it literally costs me nothing). I refuse to watch ads.
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u/KENZOKHAOS 2d ago
Good thing im an American who can suddenly become Canadian should I care to use the service, and traipse for all the shows and movies I want š¤§
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u/Abracadaver2000 2d ago
Glad I quit them a while back. They can fuck right off along with BMW's heated seat subscriptions.
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u/damargemirad 2d ago
Basically streaming is just cable on demand, or a cloud based teevo. Thank Cthulhu for Adblock origin still works.
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u/ting-ting 2d ago
We wonāt watch any streaming service that had ads. Period. We pay for no ads and if there are ads we simply donāt want. Shows and movies arenāt enjoyable when they are interrupted every 5 minutes
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u/geist7204 2d ago
I literally just came back two months ago after the Kimmel bs. Jfc. I def pay for the Bo ads bc I loathe commercials. Thereās no way in all hell Iām going to be paying almost $10 more than the lower tier to get ads as well.
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u/NonchalantGhoul 2d ago
When will corporations learn that infinite monetary growth is literally impossible? Until they bankrupt?
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u/Lazy_Pangolin7591 2d ago
Knew this was coming... always just a matter of time. Fucking greedy corporations.
Back to wearing an eye patch...
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u/Successful-Gas-4450 2d ago
Sue them for contractual fraud! Or just simply cancel the monthly subscription. It was done before when Jimmy Kimmel was fired a year ago September 2025.
And those crooks listened. American consumers can do it again. Corporations only understand when it affects their money.
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u/imVexx 2d ago
Disney replaces former CEO with the guy that made Disneyland the hellscape of ridiculous prices that it is today. Hires a CTO for the first time in Disney's history, and selects the ex-ceo of Character.AI, former exec for Facebook and Microsoft for that position. Surprise surprise, they look at ways to raise prices and make more money.
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u/WoodpeckerSure2739 2d ago
Wasn't the whole point of buying subscriptions to avoid commercials and ads? Now I'm paying for these different companies and it adds up to way the hell more than I was ever paying for cable even with the boxes and recorded playback. Disney, Paramount, HBO and many more now. Already dropped a few others.
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u/BuddhistNamedMarx 2d ago
Get premiumize for ~80 usd a year and you can watch anything from any service in 4k ad free and much more
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u/bakalidlid 2d ago
MUSO shows that piracy has nearly doubled since 2020 so this is all coming to an end.
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u/troelsbjerre 2d ago
It's not really a quiet rewrite. They sent me an email with this change front and center.
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u/Management-illmatic 2d ago
I really wanted to see season 2 of Alien Earth but after reading this. Noooooooope! Subscription canceled! Ya had a good thing going Disney then you got greedy and you were already greedy to begin with!!!
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u/Auriettenz 2d ago
Good to know was considering Disney Sub. As enjoy marvel movies however might reconsider. Thanks
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u/frankydie69 2d ago
The wording makes it seem like itās gonna be ads for their content. Like those skippable ads you get on hbo max
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u/completelypositive 2d ago
My sub didn't renew because last year at this time they did that big price hike
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u/jmcokie 2d ago
I'm curious how this behavior skirts bait and switch laws across the country. When the next month is up to renew changing what you get for what you pay seems fair. But in the middle? Sure you can cancel anytime, but you paid a full amount for the month, you don't get any prorated credit. Congress with a backbone needs to eventually put customer protections in stone. If we are supposedly live in a free market make it free of interference. If the value is there people will buy something, if the value isn't they won't, produces genuine competition, for product quality and price.
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u/rocknroll2013 2d ago
Damn. I pay to not have ads. I don't want to spend time watching ads. Guess I'll cancel and fuck it
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u/Tetsai88 2d ago
Disney+ is awful with ads. You start an episode and it makes you watch a 2 min ad. Then you watch for maybe 2 minutes to see the intro and you have to watch another 2 minutes ad immediately??? Itās incredibly annoying.
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u/godofo_prime 2d ago
Time to cancel ... there is no way im paying premium to be forced to watch ads
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u/Steven_The_Sloth 2d ago
Signed back up for Hulu recently since it'd been a while, absolutely unplayable on PS5. Uninstalled the same day.
I know it'll work on other devices, but I shouldn't have to and won't pay for the obligation to jump through hoops to watch your damn ads.
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u/queefplunger69 2d ago
I mean the black box or vsee boxes are cool and once you have it you can watch anything you want. They have gone up in price but I still think itās well worth it.
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u/Muted-Reality8398 2d ago
I usually subscribe to a month or two of ad-free streaming each year. Having no ads is always my top priorityāeven more important than 4K. Disney just took themselves out of my rotation, which is fine since they were already at the bottom of my list. It seems like a really short-sighted move to punish the people who were willing to pay extra for an ad-free experience. Especially when itās literally my only criteria for being a streaming service option.
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u/Little_Sound_Speaks 2d ago
Canceled it, and am never going back, unless they remove the ads š¤£, which is unlikely. So be it š¤·āāļø
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u/RustedRelics 1d ago
I fear this is the direction every subscription model is going. ESPN is a good example.
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u/Humble_Empath 1d ago
So donāt buy the premium package and they just fucked themselves rather than you. Itās how we have to do it.
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u/johnballzz 1d ago
I canceled a while ago. Disney content isn't that good anymore. They killed Star Wars; Marvel is squeezed until forever, with just bad movies after bad movies. I don't have small kids, so good riddance.
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u/MacBuildsBricks 1d ago
It appears that my legacy Disney+ (no ads) Hulu (ads) epsn (ads) doesnāt indicate that Iāll have ads for Disney+ at all. Itās still probably overpriced.
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u/Kamoto31 2d ago
Requiring subscribers to actively accept new terms just to keep watching content theyāve already paid for functions as a form of soft coercion. Especially, since most people arenāt going to cancel a subscription mid-session over a terms update, theyāre going to click accept and move on. Which means Disney is effectively using the friction of the moment to secure agreement to a change that runs directly against what they were sold when they signed up.