Disney slashes Disney+ price amid Charter battle

Disney yesterday slashed the price of streaming service Disney+ to under $2, a promotion that runs through Sept. 20. The advertising-based tier has been lowered to $1.99 from its current price of $7.99 a month, which comes as the network has gone "dark in nearly 15 million homes" over the carriage-fee dispute with Charter Communications. The impasse "comes during a busy time on the sports calendar," which includes the start of the college football season, the U.S. Open and the "imminent start" to the NFL season (N.Y. POST, 9/6).

Meanwhile, Comcast and Disney have "agreed to move up the date on which they begin negotiating" the fate of their jointly-owned streaming service, Hulu. The companies "plan to begin work negotiating a potential sale of Comcast’s minority stake" in Hulu on Sept. 30, "months earlier than their initial January start date." Hulu is likely worth more than $30B, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/6).