With the release of Disney’s new streaming service – Disney Plus – just around the corner, November 12, 2019, we’re learning more about all the details.
What We Know:
- Disney+ will be first launched in US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the Netherlands with the hopes to expand to, “all major markets within the first two years.”
- It was announced that Apple TV, iOS, Android, and Xbox One will support Disney+. It’s shocking that Amazon’s Fire TV Stick and Google Chromecast were nowhere to be found on this list of devices.
- Disney+ is also joining forces with Hulu on the Nintendo Switch.
- Disney+ will cost; $6.99/m (around £6 / AU$10) in the US, $8.99 in Australia and Canada, $9.99 in New Zealand, and €6.99 in the Netherlands. No UK pricing has been announced. There is also a bundle package similar to the Netflix base subscription ($12.99 USD). One can get Disney+, a Hulu (with ads subscription), and ESPN+ access for the same price, all while being streamed at 4K and HDR video.
- Another amazing feature is the “ability to download and watch all Disney Plus content onto your mobile devices and watch it offline for as long as you’re a Disney Plus subscriber.”
- “Disney claims that by the end of Disney Plus’ first year, the service will host an impressive catalog, including 7,500 television shows, 500 movies — including 100 “recent” movies and 400 “library” titles — and 25 original series across its multiple properties. By year five, Disney Plus is expected to have as many as 50 original series, 10,000 past TV episodes, and 120 recent films.” These will include Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel Cinematic Universe, and spin-offs of series within those as well.
- The MCU seems to be expanding with this deal. Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s head of television, has said there’ll be more “street-level heroes”. They’re looking to expand on Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and The Defenders.
- A new series called The Mandolorian will be a new live-action take on the Star Wars TV series.
- Spinoffs originating from Monsters Inc. along with High school Musical will also be released.
- With all of these new releases, we also plan on seeing the classics on Disney+ as well. 101 Dalmatians, The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Frozen 2, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, and Toy Story 4, will be exclusive to the service.
- Disney has also been known to make or support educational videos, which won’t be excluded. At the release, 250 hours of National Geographic content will be available on day one. To follow this type of film, Magic of the Animal Kingdom and The World According are in the process of creation.
- “I can say that our plan on the Disney side is to price this substantially below where Netflix is. That is in part reflective of the fact that it will have substantially less volume,” said Robert Iger, The Walt Disney Company’s chairman and CEO. “It’ll have a lot of high quality [content], because of the brands and the franchises that will be on it that we’ve talked about. But it’ll simply launch with less volume, and the price will reflect that.”
With such a large portfolio and the same starting price – when getting the three-in-one subscriptions plan – that Netflix has, Disney+ seems to have the right idea of what users are looking for.
