Today Disney announced during their second quarter earnings report that there’s a Disney streaming service coming and that they are ending their relationship with Netflix once their contract is up in early 2019. This means that Disney movies will no longer be available on Netflix, but only on Disney’s direct-to-customer streaming service.
Not only that but Disney is also launching their own ESPN sports streaming service in early 2018 which will have about 10,000 sporting events per year from MLB, NHL, MLS, Tennis, and NCAA. Making this all possible is BAMTech, in which Disney has now increased its share from 33% to 75%.
CEO Bob Iger said, “The media landscape is increasingly defined by direct relationships between content creators and consumers, and our control of BAMTech’s full array of innovative technology will give us the power to forge those connections, along with the flexibility to quickly adapt to shifts in the market. This acquisition and the launch of our direct-to-consumer services mark an entirely new growth strategy for the Company, one that takes advantage of the incredible opportunity that changing technology provides us to leverage the strength of our great brands.”
Disney hasn’t yet decided whether or not the LucasFilm and Marvel movies would be a part of this new service or if they will have their own. One thing is sure, Disney isn’t standing by watching as other media companies take control of the market. Disney is doing what it feels will be the best way to bring their IP’s to the people, and it sounds like a good plan to me. Disney has a seemingly endless amount of media content over a broad range of categories, and creating a streaming service/services like this will be essential for their survival into the next generation.
No word yet on how this impacts the video streaming deal that Disney made with Hulu earlier this year.
Stay tuned for how much this service will cost and all the details about it as we find out more.
Your Thoughts:
I want to know what you think about the Disney streaming service coming direct to customers. Do you think it’s a good move? How much should this service cost? Should Marvel and LucasFilm be a part of it or have their own service? Let us know in the comments section below!
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My name is Ziggy and I love Disney, everything Disney! I grew up on Disney and it has and continues to be a huge part of my life. I started young when my parents took me to Disney World when I was 18 months old. Little did they know that would be the first of an uncountable number of trips we would take. I have so many amazing memories going to Disney with my family and friends and it has been interwoven into my DNA.