Another giant enters the digital battle.
As old technology dies away, we make peace with a new reality.
In 2018, streaming dominates the entertainment landscape, with Netflix leading the charge as various contenders strive to compete for subscriptions and attention.
And now, another gladiator enters the fray. A huge one.
A new profile in Variety notes that Disney CEO Bob Iger has called the forthcoming launch of the streaming service – set for 2019 – as “the biggest priority of the company” for next year.
Though not officially announced, it appears that the service will be named Disney Play.
As expected, it will exclusively house Disney titles and content, and isn’t expected to rival Netflix in terms of constantly adding new material.
“We’re going to walk before we run as it relates to volume of content,” said Iger in early August.
Iger also confirmed that the price for Disney Play will be less than Netflix’s subscription fee, at least initially, largely due to the contrasting size of its library.
“We have the luxury of programming this product with programs from those brands or derived from those brands, which obviously creates a demand and gives us the ability to not necessarily be in the volume game, but to be in the quality game,” he told Variety.
It is estimated that Disney will need to generate around 40 million monthly subscribers on their lowest tier subscription model in order to break even.
A date has yet to be revealed for the official launch of Disney Play, or when it will launch in Ireland.
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