Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Disney+ Streaming Service To Launch In November, Priced At $6.99 Monthly (variety.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the another-challenger-enters-the-arena dept.

Disney has announced that its highly anticipated new streaming service, Disney+, will launch in the U.S. on November 12 with a price of $6.99 per month. Variety has more details: The subscription VOD service represents Disney's next major foray into the video-streaming wars. By pricing it well below Netflix, the Mouse House is betting it can rapidly drive up Disney+ customer base with a melange of content that appeals to multiple demographics, including movies and TV shows from its Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and Disney brands.

At launch, Disney+ will include 7,500 episodes, including from 25 original series; 400 library movie titles; and 100 recent theatrical films releases, according to Agnes Chu, senior VP of content, Disney+. That includes exclusive rights to all 30 seasons of "The Simpsons," which Disney obtained through the acquisition of 21st Century Fox. In year five of Disney+, the company expects to have an annual production slate of some 50 originals, Chu said. Disney+ will be an ad-free service, supported solely by subscription fees. It's going to have a wide platform footprint, spanning game consoles, smart TVs and connected streaming devices, including Roku and PlayStation 4, said Michael Paull, president of Disney Streaming Services (formerly BAMTech). "After Disney+'s initial North American launch in the fourth quarter of 2019, the service will roll out to Europe, Latin America and Asia as Disney's international rights return to the company from licensees," the report adds. Kevin Mayer, chairman of Disney's Direct-to-Customer and International business segment, also said that the company will "likely" offer a discounted bundle combining Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu.

All of Disney+'s content will be available to download for offline viewing and will be available in 4K. Some of the content subscribers will have access to includes all of the Star Wars films, 250 hours of NatGeo content, and hundreds of episodes from Disney Channel shows as well as a brand-new "Phineas and Ferb" movie.

10 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. But will Song of the South be on it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That's all anyone cares about.

  2. Star Wars? by alaskana98 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Some of the content subscribers will have access to includes all of the Star Wars films" - well this will definitely entice some folks.

    1. Re:Star Wars? by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 5, Informative

      Let's see...

      For $6.99 a month (or $69.99 a year)? Yeah, I'd do that...

  3. Not All of Star Wars Yet by cervesaebraciator · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It won't have the original trilogy yet. Turner holds the streaming rights until 2024.

    1. Re:Not All of Star Wars Yet by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Informative

      Then Disney must have licensed/bought the rights back, because they've confirmed that the original trilogy will be available on day one when Disney+ launches.

  4. Re:Will probably subscribe by rtb61 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nope, not even close. Disney, although is doesn't know it yet, has introduced the great streaming churn. People will swap streaming services upon a regular basis, as none of them will end up with sufficient content, ignoring all the filler crap no one watches, people will not pay for multiple services, they will simply swap on a quarterly or half yearly basis, depending upon how many they want to go with.

    Churning streaming services will become the norm and they will all go hungry trying to eat each others lunch. They will end up trying all sorts of manipulative corporate shit to lock people in to block churning.

    --
    Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  5. I'm just going to leave this little thing by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Informative

    right here...

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  6. Possible illegal behavior by war4peace · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From TFA:

    After the initial North American launch in the fourth quarter of 2019, the service will roll out to Western Europe and in Asia-Pacific regions starting in Q4 and into early 2020 and in Eastern Europe and Latin America starting at the end of 2020.

    The European Commission will most likely slam them with a heavy fine if they do this. The European Union is a single entity economically speaking, and treating Western Europe and Eastern Europe separately is a huge no-no.

    Valve is under pressure right now for allowing game price geotagging in the EU, together with other major game publishers. https://win.gg/news/977
    As a person living in Eastern Europe (and a Star Wars fan), I am directly interested in how is this going to unfold.

    --
    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  7. $6.99 FOR NOW by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 5, Insightful

    First taste is cheap, people. Just like everyone else, they'll let you get all settled in, then start jacking up the price. 'Cord cutters', indeed.

    1. Re:$6.99 FOR NOW by garcia · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I've been on Slashdot since 1996 or 1997 and I have gone through my phase of using any number of p2p software pieces for obtaining whatever media I preferred to watch; however, these ended when I became an adult who could easily afford any of these services.

      What do I do now that Disney isn't on my preferred streaming services? I either choose to pay for it or I don't and my kids don't watch it. But, even though I did it in the past, I *never* once consider torrents as an option for consuming this and, if I think this way, the vast majority of people in the world do as well.

      So, to answer your question, no, they don't consider it as as a factor.