Disney+ is a new streaming platform from Disney and it is here to bring original content with all the characters you love from the famous company!
So let’s find out some trivia and facts about this new streaming platform!
- Disney+ is an upcoming American subscription video on-demand service owned
- It is pronounced “Disney plus”
- It will be operated by the Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International
- It is a division of The Walt Disney Company
- It is set to launch in the United States, Canada and the Netherlands on November 12, 2019
- The service will launch in Australia on November 19, 2019
- It will be focused on film and television content from Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Television
- Original films and television series based on new and existing properties are also planned
- Including content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm,and National Geographic
- The service will compete with other video streaming subscription services
- Such as Netflix, HBO Max, CBS All Access and Amazon Prime Video
- And will complement ESPN+ and Hulu
- As part of Disney’s over-the-top strategy
- In August 2016, Disney acquired a minority stake in BAMTech
- A spin-out of MLB Advanced Media’s streaming technology business
- For $1 billion
- With an option to acquire a majority stake in the future
- Following the purchase, ESPN announced plans for an “exploratory [over-the-top] project” based on its technology (ESPN+)
- To supplant its existing linear television services
- On August 8, 2017, Disney invoked its option to acquire a controlling stake in BAMTech for $1.58 billion
- Increasing its stake to 75%
- Alongside the acquisition, the company also announced plans for a second, Disney-branded direct-to-consumer service drawing from its entertainment content
- Which would launch after the company ends its existing distribution agreement with Netflix in 2019
- Soon there after, Agnes Chu, story and franchise development executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, was the first appointed executive, senior vice president of content, for the unit
- In December 2017, Disney announced its intent to acquire key entertainment assets from 21st Century Fox
- Intended to bolster Disney’s content portfolio for its streaming products
- The acquisition closed on March 20, 2019
- In January 2018, it was reported that former Apple and Samsung executive Kevin Swint had been appointed as the senior vice president and general manager reporting to BAMTech CEO Michael Paull
- In March 2018, Disney’s top level segment division was reorganized with the formation of Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International
- Which then included BAMTech, which contains “all consumer-facing tech and products”
- In June 2018, longtime Disney studio marketing chief, Ricky Strauss, was named president of content and marketing
- However reporting to chairman of Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International Kevin Mayer
- In January 2019, Fox Television Group COO Joe Earley was named executive vice president of marketing and operations
- In June 2019, Matt Brodlie was named as senior vice president of international content development
- In August 2019, Luke Bradley-Jones was hired as senior vice president of direct to consumer and general manager of Disney+ for Europe and Africa
- On November 8, 2018, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the service would be named Disney+
- And that the company was targeting a launch in late 2019
- A September launch was reportedly planned
- But on April 11, 2019, Disney announced that Disney+ would launch on November 12, 2019 in the US
- Disney stated that it planned to roll the service out worldwide over the next two years
- Targeting Western Europe and Asia-Pacific countries by late 2019 and early 2020
- And Eastern Europe and Latin America during 2020
- The timing of international launches is subject to the acquisition or expiration of existing streaming rights deals for Disney content
- On August 6, 2019, Iger announced that it will offer a streaming bundle of Disney+, ESPN+, and the ad-supported version of Hulu for $12.99 per month available at launch
- On August 19, 2019, Disney announced that Disney+ will launch in Canada and the Netherlands on November 12, 2019
- On the same day as the United States
- It was also announced that Disney+ will launch in Australia and New Zealand on November 19, 2019
- At the D23 Expo in August 2019, Disney opened up subscriptions to Disney+ at a discount rate for three years
- At launch, Disney+ will be available for streaming via web browsers on PCs
- As well as apps on Apple iOS devices and Apple TV, Android mobile devices and Android TV, Chromecast, Roku devices, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One
- Content available on Disney+ will also be listed in the Apple TV app
- Disney+ will allow seven user profiles per account
- With the ability to stream on four devices concurrently
- And unlimited downloads for offline viewing
- Content will be able to be streamed in resolutions up to 4K Ultra HD in Dolby Vision and HDR10
- With Dolby Atmos sound on supported devices
- Legacy content will be available in English, Spanish, French, and Dutch
- While Disney+ originals will feature additional language options
- The service will be built around content from Disney’s main entertainment studios
- Including Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, and National Geographic
- The service will operate alongside Hulu
- Which Disney gained a controlling stake in following the 20th Century Fox purchase
- Bob Iger stated that Disney+ would be focused specifically on family-oriented entertainment
- Not carrying any R-rated or TV-MA rated content
- And that Hulu would remain oriented towards general entertainment
- Hulu will also host Disney+ as an add-on service
- It is expected that Disney+ will have approximately 7,000 television episodes and 500 films
- Including content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Fox, and National Geographic
- New releases from 20th Century Fox will not immediately be available on either Disney+ or Hulu
- As Fox has an output deal with HBO until 2022
- Captain Marvel will be the first theatrically-released Disney film to stream exclusively on Disney+
- Bob Iger said that Disney+ will eventually host the entire Disney film library
- Including films currently in the “Disney Vault”
- The service will also hold exclusive streaming rights to The Simpsons
- With all thirty seasons of the series available on launch
- It was initially unclear whether the first six films of the Star Wars franchise would be available at the service’s launch
- As TBS held streaming rights through 2024 as part of its cable rights to the franchise
- But on April 11, 2019, it was announced that the films would be available at launch along with The Force Awakens and Rogue One
- Original series based on Marvel properties and Star Wars are being produced
- With the former including eight new Marvel Cinematic Universe spin-off series
- Involving the characters of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , Hawkeye, Loki, Scarlet Witch and Vision, She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and a What If animated series
- And the latter including The Mandalorian
- A television series set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens
- A spin-off series focused on Cassian Andor from Rogue One
- A seventh season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- And a yet-untitled series starring Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, reprising his role from the prequel trilogy
- The service’s initial original content goal was planned to include four to five original films
- And five television shows with budgets from $25- 100 million
- In January 2019, it was reported that Disney will spend up to $500 million in original content for the service
- The Mandalorian alone is expected to cost $100 million
- In January 2019, Disney+ ordered Diary of a Female President from CBS Television Studios
- Its first series from an outside production company
- A television series remake of the film High Fidelity was initially announced for Disney+
- But in April 2019, it was revealed that the project had been shifted to Hulu
- In August 2019, Iger announced that 20th Century Fox films such as Home Alone, Night at the Museum, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Cheaper by the Dozen will be “‘reimagined’ for ‘a new generation'” exclusively for Disney+ by Fox Family
- Original episodic content is expected to be released weekly
- Opposed to all at once
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