On Thursday, Disney+ launched its first-ever ad-supported plan, “Disney+ Basic,” in the US at $7.99 per month, the same price as the previous ad-free plan before Disney increased the price. priced at $10.99/month. However, Roku users wanting to upgrade to the new plan are out of luck, at least for now.
According to the Disney Plus support website, the ad-supported tier is “not currently available on Roku devices.” It’s also not available on the Microsoft Windows desktop app, the site informs. So, at this time, US subscribers with Disney+ Basic or Disney Bundles like Disney Bundle Duo Basic (Disney+ Basic and Hulu’s advertising plan) or Trio Basic (Disney+ Basic, Hulu’s advertising plan and ESPN+) will not cannot stream to Roku or Windows.
Disney told TechCrunch it is still in talks with Roku to reach a deal that works for both parties. We believe the dispute is over an ad sharing agreement because, by default, channels must enter an ad revenue split with Roku. Disney, however, declined to provide details. Roku also declined to comment on the negotiations.
Roku has established itself as the premier smart TV platform in the United States. So it’s a major downside for Disney+ to not have its new ad-supported tier available on Roku devices at launch.
Netflix ran into a similar problem when it launched its ad-supported plan a month ago.
At the time, Netflix told TechCrunch that at launch, support for its “Basic with Ads” plan was not available on tvOS devices but would be available soon. According to the Netflix support website, it is still not available on Apple TV as well as PlayStation 3 consoles.
