Tag: Streaming

Disney+ Plans on Launching Ad-Supported Plan in Late 2022

In an announcement made today, Disney+ said that it will launch an ad-supported subscription plan in the United States later this year, with plans to expand internationally in 2023.

Disney didn’t mention a specific launch date or any pricing in the announcement.

According to Kareem Daniel, Chairman, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution –

Expanding access to Disney+ to a broader audience at a lower price point is a win for everyone – consumers, advertisers, and our storytellers.  More consumers will be able to access our amazing content. Advertisers will be able to reach a wider audience, and our storytellers will be able to share their incredible work with more fans and families.

It has become very popular to add cheaper options with ads among subscription services. Last year HBO Max introduced a $10 per month plan that shaved $5 off the ad-free price, though it must be noted that in addition to adding commercials, the cheaper plan also is limited to HD content (and not 4K). Peacock on the other hand takes a more varied approach, offering a smaller selection of content with ads is completely free, with a $4.99 per month tier that offers the full library with ads, along with a $9.99 per month level that allows customers to download titles to watch offline and gets rid of (most, but not all) of the commercials.

Rita Ferro, President, Advertising, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution added –

Since its launch, advertisers have been clamoring for the opportunity to be part of Disney+ and not just because there’s a growing demand for more streaming inventory.  Disney+ with advertising will offer marketers the most premium environment in streaming with our most beloved brands, Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and National Geographic. I can’t wait to share more with advertisers at the Upfront.

What are your thoughts on this new version of the popular Disney+ service? Personally, I think I’ll stay with the ad-free version…at least for now.

Disney Plans to Produce Original Content for New Streaming Service

Everybody is getting into the streaming business. Not content to sit back and let Netflix have all the fun, Disney is getting ready to launch their own streaming service. And just like Netflix, they now plan to create their own original movies and TV shows. Get the details on the Disney streaming service below.

Breaking up can be hard. The seemingly tranquil relationship between Disney and Netflix is nearing its end, and we’re all about to become children of this divorce, pulled in two directions by our streaming parents. In August, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Disney would be forming their own streaming service, and promptly pulling their content off of streaming platforms like Netflix. Iger called the move “a strategic shift in the way we distribute our content,” although later he walked things back slightly and said that while Disney’s own films were definitely expected to move to their new streaming service, the fate of Star Wars and Marvel films was still being determined. That changed rather quickly, however, when Iger later confirmed that Marvel and Star Wars titles would move as well.

Now Iger is doubling-down on the Disney streaming service, giving more details as to why Disney is making the move (via Heroic Hollywood):

“[W]hat we’re doing is we’re taking product out there direct-to-consumers, a sports product in 2018 and a Disney-branded product in 2019. And we’re doing that because we experienced and see a huge disruption in the media business. It doesn’t take a genius, I think, to conclude that the media business today doesn’t look anything like the media business even five years ago. At some point, we felt it would be necessary for us to not only be disruptive but to disrupt our business ourselves. The decision to do that came when we felt we were no longer seeing a speedbump of disruption, which is basically something that occurs, changes things a bit and we react to it. What we were seeing instead was real, profound and permanent change.”

And that’s not all. Just as Netflix has grown their brand by producing their own TV shows and movies, so shall the Disney streaming service. Per Iger:

“We’ll make original films for the platform, probably about five a year. Those will be made specifically for the platform. And we’ll do the same for television. We’ll make original TV series; we’ll take Disney Channel series and move them eventually to this platform. And we’ll also fill it in with shorts and other library product. So it’ll have thousands of hours of Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars-branded product on it.”

Iger claims the streaming service will produce at least five new films per year, along with original series. The Disney streaming service is expected to go live some time in 2019, which gives Netflix plenty of time to send a really nice Edible Arrangement to the Disney offices with a card begging them not to go.

From SlashFilm

Disney to Launch Subscription Streaming Service in U.K.

Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear in "Toy Story"

 

Disney is to launch next month a subscription streaming service in the U.K., which will offer its movies, television series, books and music direct to the consumer online.

The service, DisneyLife, will make available a wide range of titles, including the complete Pixar catalog, which includes the “Toy Story” franchise, and classics such as “Snow White,” “Lady and the Tramp” and “The Jungle Book,” the Financial Times reported Wednesday. DisneyLife will cost £9.99 ($15.43) a month.

“This is the future, in many respects,” said Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive. “We’re seeing more and more opportunities to reach consumers directly and not through middlemen, and we’re seeing consumers wanting product in different ways.”

Disney will roll out the service across Europe next year, with the aim of launching in France, Spain, Italy and Germany. There are no plans to launch the service in the U.S., but Iger would not rule it out. “The technology platform that this sits on is scalable to the U.S. and is scalable to our other brands,” he said. Netflix has pay TV window rights to Disney theatrical releases for the U.S., kicking in at the end of next year, and Canada, starting with 2015 theatrical releases.

New content will be added to DisneyLife as it becomes available. Movies produced by Marvel and the Lucasfilm “Star Wars” franchise will not be included, but “Star Wars” and Marvel subscription services could be launched in the future, Iger said.

Iger saw apps, not linear television, as the future. “There’s a general sense that the world is going in this direction,” he said. “There will be multichannel TV and we will be part of it, but the app experience offers many more layers (and) much more richness in content than a channel, where one program follows another program.”

He added: “There’s so much more texture to (using the app) and it takes advantage of what technology is enabling these days — whereas a linear channel doesn’t. There’s nothing wrong with linear television but that’s one of the reasons why the app experience is going to grow.”

From Variety

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