Netflix hold on the video streaming crown is officially under siege.
2020 is going to be ‘lit’ and not necessarily in a good way. For years now, the big boys such as Disney and NBC were more than happy to accept millions of dollars from Netflix for the rights to their creative content but with Netflix flourishing the way it has, it was only a matter of time before the likes of Disney came to its senses.
Of course, we knew that Apple and Disney would be starting their own streaming services for a while now and even though Apple officially launched it’s Apple TV+ streaming service a couple of weeks ago, it’s Disney’s entry into the market that’ll really kick things off.
Here’s a statement for you. Disney has made more money in the first seven months of 2019 than any studio has ever made in a single year, earning $7.67 billion to date at the worldwide box office. That’s right, Disney absolutely murdered 2019, establishing themselves as somewhat of a monolith in the industry, but the company has now turned its attentions to video streaming.
Goodbye Netflix & Chill, Hello Disney Plus & Thrust?
2020 is going to be a big year for the house of mouse, but not in a traditional sense. Its voyage into unfamiliar waters started today but the ground work for it began some time ago. First they pulled almost all of the company’s films and TV series from streaming competitors so they can exist on Disney+ exclusively. Then of course, they displayed their willingness to take a financial hit by making titles such as Lady and the Tramp Disney+ Exclusives. In fact, forecasts show that Disney+ isn’t expected to turn a profit until at least 2024, but that shows how serious the company is about this venture.
That is why pulling all it’s content off other platforms was so vital. Disney is putting all its eggs into one basket and in a world where consumers are tired from seeing a different streaming service left right and centre, Disney has bet on its strong catalog of exclusive titles to pull them through.
The streaming platform has officially launched in The US, Canada & Netherlands today and for a mere $6.99 a month, subscribers now get get unprecedented access to the Disney vault as well as some eagerly anticipated new original content. That includes pretty much the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars spin off, The Mandalorian, and more.
As if that wasn’t enough to whet your appetites, Disney surprised us all by announcing that for the first time ever, all of the Star Wars movies will be available for stream in 4K Ultra HD. Prime time to be a Star Wars fan. With such a strong repertoire of shows, and with more along the way, it’s understandable that Disney is projecting that it will have about 12 million subscribers in the US by the end of 2020. Heck, they might even surpass those numbers, given that the Disney+ already had nearly 2 million subs even before its launch today.
While i’m sure Martin Scorsese has a thing or two to say about this, Disney+ is looking formidable and we could just be witnessing the start of Disney’s video streaming takeover.
Disney+ is expected to roll out in Asia Pacific sometime in 2020. Watch this space for updates.
