We have some meaningful and crucial new details regardingDisneyand their upcoming streaming service. The company’s new DTC (direct to consumer) service is meant to be a direct competitor with Netflix and will help give Disney a serious foot in the streaming game, which is really the only place they’re lacking at the present time, given their dominance in Hollywood. Now, we have word on what the service will be called, roughly what it will cost and what to expect in terms of content.
First up, the question that many people have been asking, the service will reportedly be calledDisney Play. Many have jokingly taken to calling it “Disneyflix” but thanks to Disney CEO Bob Iger, we now know that is their official name. For now. The service isn’t expected to launch until late 2019, so things could change between now and then. But at least for the time being, people finally know what to start calling this thing.
“We have the luxury of programming this product with programs from those brands or derived from those brands, which obviously creates a demand and gives us the ability to not necessarily be in the volume game, but to be in the quality game.”
The major advantage thatNetflixhas is attractive properties. Not only do they have years and years of content that people want to see, but they can create new shows and movies based on brands such as Marvel andStar Wars. While existing Marvel Netflix shows will stay in place, future ventures will be for Disney Play. Not only that, but Disney is ending their lucrative deal with Netflix, meaning that all future Disney titles will no longer debut on Netflix and they’re going to lose all of the Disney movies and TV shows they currently have. That’s a big blow for them.
One big problem for Disney is that theStar Warsmovies are currently locked up in a cable deal on TNT And TBS. That deal runs through 2024, meaning that most of the movies in the franchise won’t be coming to Disney Play at the start, unless they can work something out. For now, it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case.
Last, but certainly not least, comes cost. Bob Iger didn’t throw out an exact number, but because they will have less content to offer, it’s been made clear that the Disney Streaming service will cost less than Netflix, which costs between $8 and $14 a month depending on your subscription level. It’s going to take a lot to make this a profitable venture for Disney, but coming in cheap could help make this more attractive out of the gate. This news comes to us courtesy ofVariety.
