Disney+ Updates Subscriber Agreement to Allow Ads on Every Plan

The change is starting to reach subscribers through an email outlining the updated terms. Disney says all plans may contain promotional content, sponsorships, and advertising before and after playback. Ads can also appear during live and as-live programming, on linear channels, at special events, and in certain third-party content, regardless of which plan someone pays for. Subscribers may be asked to accept the new agreement before they can continue streaming.

Disney+ Premium is not turning into the same ad-supported plan as Disney+ Basic. Disney still markets Premium as “No Ads,” and on-demand movies and shows are expected to play without commercial breaks. The updated agreement instead gives Disney more freedom to place ads and promotions before or after content.

Some of those promotions may not be skippable, either. The agreement also warns that using an ad blocker could interfere with playback. Junior Mode profiles are the main exception and will remain free from commercial advertising and sponsorship placements during playback.

Disney has not announced when Premium subscribers could begin seeing these ads or how often they might appear. That makes the agreement change more of a shift in what Disney is allowed to do than confirmation of an immediate flood of new commercials. Still, it gives the company much more room to experiment with advertising on a plan that subscribers are paying a premium to access.

The pricing makes that distinction especially relevant. Disney+ Basic currently costs $11.99 per month in the U.S., while Premium costs $18.99 per month or $189.99 annually. The extra $7 still removes commercial breaks from most on-demand movies and shows, but it may no longer buy a completely ad-free Disney+ experience.
That is a big change from how Disney+ started. When the service launched in 2019, it cost $6.99 per month and was entirely ad-free. Disney introduced its cheaper ad-supported tier in December 2022, while continuing to position Premium as the option for viewers who wanted to avoid commercials.

There is also a real chance the move could backfire by pushing some viewers toward piracy. If subscribers are paying $18.99 a month specifically to avoid ads, only to find advertising creeping into that experience anyway, some may decide the Premium subscription is no longer worth the price.

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