What pop culture character do you most associate with your childhood? Perhaps it’s animated characters, like Mickey and Minnie or Snow White. Or maybe, its more mature characters, like Darth Vader or Spiderman. Well, all those characters, and more, will live under the same roof when Disney launches their new streaming platform this year, Disney+!
What Is Disney+?
In a world where there are already dozens of streaming services, one might wonder why the famous Mouse is wading into the waters. Well, Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney, realized that they could make a whole lot more money with their own streaming service, rather than licensing out to others.
Over the years, Disney’s made some moves that make it seem like they’ve been planning this for some time. In the past decade, the company’s picked up four of the biggest content producers in the world: Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and, most recently, 20th Century Fox. Now, titles like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Iron-Man, Star Wars, and more will only be available on the new streaming service.
Disney+ will launch in the United States and Asia in November 2019. Afterward, the service will expand to Europe in 2020 and Latin America in 2021.
Brand-New Content
Sure, having a stable list of classics for a streaming service is great. However, Disney+ will need more than animated films and the Star Wars prequels to bring in customers. So, they’ve started producing brand-new content with all of its production companies.
Pixar will bring subscribers an animated sitcom set in the world of Monsters, Inc., titled Monsters at Work. As you can guess, it’s about the day-to-day life of the monsters working at Monsters, Inc. Meanwhile, the first-ever live-action Star Wars show, The Mandalorian, will debut on the streaming service. Finally, Marvel will have five shows – that we know of! Of course, expect for more and more announcements to keep coming.
Never-Ending Competition for Disney+
As anyone with a television can attest, Disney+ will have plenty of competition. Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu are all well-known competitors the streaming service will have to deal with. However, while those platforms might have great content, they don’t have the market penetration Disney does. In fact, finical expert Benjamin Swinburne predicts the company’s shares might jump up 4.4% when the streaming service debuts!
Disney already hit a record share price, $142.35, earlier this years, thanks to the release of the newest Avengers film. In fact, after the company acquired 20th Century Fox, Disney produced or owns 47% of the top 100 earning movies of all time! With the acquisition, they quickly left fellow media companies, like Warner Bros., in the dust.
Never Tell Me The Odds
So, is there any chance Disney+ could fail? Sure, but it’s unlikely. “Disney is not a tech company in its DNA, nor does it have a long history as a direct-to-consumer digital retailer,” Swinburne admits. However, he says, their name is big enough. Swinburn, along with his company Morgan Stanley, predicts that the streaming service will gain 13 million subscribers by the end of 2020. Still, that’s just the beginning! Conservative estimates predict it will attain nearly 100 million users in only five years. It’s easy to defeat the competition when the entire world already knows your name.
What might convince potential subscribers even more is the starting price. The company announced that Disney+ will begin at just $4.99 a month! That’s nearly nothing compared to Netflix’s minimum price, which is $8.99 a month. Meanwhile, Prime from Amazon costs $12.99 a month. Admittedly, Amazon Prime comes with far more benefits. The mega-company will also have a bundled deal for subscribers that includes the new platform, Hulu Basic, and ESPN On-Demand for just $12.99!
If you’re still undecided on the new streaming service, or are just ecstatic, keep your eyes on FinanceChatter for any new information!
Sources: InvestmentGuru, Variety.