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Disney Plus discounted bundle likely with Hulu and ESPN Plus

You're "likely" to get a lower price if you subscribe to two or more of Disney's streaming services.

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Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials
  • Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)
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Joan E. Solsman
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Frozen 2 is slated for theaters Nov. 22, but it -- and all of Disney's theatrical releases -- are destined to live on Disney Plus for streaming. 

 Screenshot/CNET

Disney said Thursday that it'll "likely" offer discounted bundle of its three streaming services: ESPN Plus, Hulu and its coming Netflix rival, Disney Plus. 

The news came during the entertainment giant's two-hour-plus event to unveil Disney Plus and explain its wider streaming strategy. After years of putting streaming in the back seat to protect its big-budget blockbusters and lucrative TV model, Disney has made streaming its top priority this year, even restructuring the company around it. 

Though a discounted bundle was an expected move for Disney, Kevin Mayer, the company's chairman of direct-to-consumer and international business, hedged the statement by saying that bundles of two or more of these services is "likely."

Disney's push into streaming is the highest-profile example of traditional Hollywood going to extreme lengths to fortify against competition from digital powerhouses like Netflix, Amazon and -- soon -- Apple. Those deep-pocketed companies have been pouring money into their own TV shows and movies. Digital upstarts have fueled TV cord-cutting and, in Netflix's case, tried to upend theatrical release norms for movies -- all threats to the future survival of companies like Disney.