From Adweek · Bill Bradley · · 1m 30s
Disney+ isn't secretly adding ads to ad-free plans
A viral story about Disney+ sneaking ads into premium tiers turned out to be a misunderstanding about clarified language in user agreements.
In brief
A viral story about Disney+ sneaking ads into premium tiers turned out to be a misunderstanding about clarified language in user agreements. Disney updated its subscriber agreement language to clarify existing policies about promotional content and live sports, not to introduce new ads to ad-free plans. Originally…
Disney+ ad panic, explained
Over the weekend, Disney+ subscribers panicked after news spread that the streamer was adding ads to all its plans, including ad-free tiers. The story went viral online.
What actually triggered the uproar
Disney sent an updated subscriber agreement to European customers stating all plans "may include promotional content, sponsorships, and advertisements" before and after playback. This sparked the confusion.
“may include promotional content, sponsorships, and advertisements”
No change to actual viewing experience
Disney is simply clarifying existing policies in its user agreements, not changing what subscribers actually see. Similar language has been in previous agreements all along.
Promotional content isn't new
The clarified language refers to trailers and promotional content before and after shows, plus ads in live sports. Other streamers like HBO Max do the same on ad-free plans.
Live sports changed the ad-free game
As Disney+ adds more live sports and events from ESPN, even ad-free subscribers see traditional ad breaks. This has already been happening, so the new language just acknowledges reality.
True ad-free streaming doesn't exist
Peacock and Netflix also show ads on their ad-free tiers when streaming live content. Disney's updated agreement simply makes this reality more transparent to subscribers.
The headline
Disney updated its subscriber agreement language to clarify existing policies about promotional content and live sports, not to introduce new ads to ad-free plans.
