The new Disney-branded service will become the exclusive home in the U.S. for subscription-video-on-demand viewing of the newest live action and animated movies from Disney and Pixar, beginning with the 2019 theatrical slate, which includes Toy Story 4, the sequel to Frozen, and The Lion King from Disney live-action, along with other highly anticipated movies. Disney will also make a significant investment in an annual slate of original movies, TV shows, short-form content and other Disney-branded exclusives for the service. Additionally, the service will feature a vast collection of library content, including Disney and Pixar movies and Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD television programming.
With this strategic shift, Disney will end its distribution agreement with Netflix for subscription streaming of new releases, beginning with the 2019 calendar year theatrical slate.
Note that this means Netflix wonât be receiving any future Disney movies, and current ones will be pulled off eventually. However there is no plan right now for what will happen with Marvel movies or Star Wars movies.
Edit: Star Wars and Marvel movies are coming to Disneyâs service.
Marvel TVâs deal will not be affected:
A Netflix rep says Disneyâs decision doesnât affect other deals that it has with Netflix, including one that brought a series of Marvel superhero originals like âDaredevilâ to Netflix.
This makes me honestly wonder if the streaming service economy is a bubble that might well be reaching the point where everyone goes all-in on their version before the ultimate collapse. While Disney probably can earn itself a slate of sufficient quality to pass muster (if only by its movie back catalogue or prodigious associated IPs), I feel like Netflix works because itâs a small amount of money for a wide catalogue. If the market fractures into fifty different services, suddenly ÂŁ10 per month per service adds up quickly and subscription numbers fall through the floor.
Maybe weâll get companies that will bundle them up in package deals. Iâm sure thatâll go well.
Netflix was the first to do it, and has the most success because of it. Unlike Amazon, Netflix isnât sending me physical mail telling me they have a video streaming service. Huluâs doing alright just because itâs got a hand in current TV offerings, and HBO has the monopolized advantage of making their streaming service their only option (or you get to pay for cable, which is what weâre trying to avoid to begin with.
Iâm on Netflix, and Crunchyroll, and even Crunchyroll is getting shaken down by Anime Strike and Netflix with their awful anime policies (Anime Strike costs more outside of Amazon Prime, Netflix doesnât release a season until itâs done airing in its entirety in Japan). Itâs super annoying and I end up sailing the high seas to get access to the other stuff because of their garbage policies.
Iâm not very excited for where streaming is going. DC is apparently making its own service for Young Justice. I can tell you that I wonât be paying for that.
As an aside @robowitch, one company did try to sell streaming services as a package deal, though I donât remember the name of the company. It got shut down immediately.
Oh yes, weâre definitely heading towards a world of neo cable package deals. Itâs how the smaller services like VRV and Seeso will survive. Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu will be the NBC, CBS, and ABC of this new world.
Canât say Iâm surprised, but I am disappointed. Netflix is so great because it has such a wide catalog. Disney has good movies, but other than that Iâm not interested. I used to subscribe to HBO, but I was only watch Game of Thrones and it just wasnât worth the sub cost. Amazon only works because it is a perk of Prime, itâs catalog it pretty bad overall and too small.
Iâm sure Disneyâs service can work, they have all of ABC as well, but if they try to fracture their own product base, I donât see that going well. Other media companies are going to be watch how Disney works out and if they start raking in the cash, others will follow. At least Netflix has been boosting itâs catalog with lots of good quality originals.
I subscribe to Shudder, which streams primarily horror. Being as niche as it is, itâs a double-edged sword: I can watch obscure horror movies that I might never see otherwise, but with the knowledge that it will probably be the first to go when this bubble bursts.
This bubble includes Spotify and music streaming, along with YouTube and a lot of other free or cheap services that we take for granted. Why canât we just have nice things?
Yup, the future for this doesnât seem too bright. Every company canât have a subscription service, that should be obvious. It wouldnât surprise me if they make it difficult for people to jump in and out, perhaps making it more expensive to just do one month than to get a running subscription or something like that.
Netflix in my country has been shit for a while. They raised prices a year or two back but the catalogue is still pretty small and filled with a lot of low quality shows and films. They can pretend all they want, but their own stuff is not worth subscribing for alone.
HBOâs service here is terrible. (Last I tried it) their app doesnât stream in HD, and you canât even pause. Also a lot of stutter and stuff. But itâs HBO so they can still charge a bunch because their catalogue is actually good, and people donât care about âtechnicalâ stuff like pausing a video.
Maybe the future will be more digital renting somehow. Itâs a thing now, but itâs obviously the less popular form of service. Perhaps there arenât services that are good enough.
Now, however, it looks like the Netflix Disney film loss set for 2019 wonât impact Disney movies and television shows in international markets, including Canada, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. Disney content present on Netflix in Canada and international markets is held under separate deals.
If the 2019 termination of its content agreement with Netflix wonât result in a shift in what content is present the streaming service in international markets, including Canada, itâs likely Disneyâs new platform will not launch in Canada. Another possibility is that Disney content will be distributed across both Netflix and the animation companyâs proprietary streaming platform, though this option is unlikely.
Also, a correction: Disney movies WILL be pulled off eventually, and wonât be kept on Netflix (in the U.S.). Thereâs no definite answer right now to what will happen with Marvel movies or Star Wars movies.
Update: Had to check on this, because I was typing while CEO Bob Iger was talking. But hereâs an important bit of non-specificity: All of Disneyâs movies will eventually come off Netflix, but that doesnât necessarily mean theyâll end up on the Disney streaming service. Iger says the service will definitely have Disney and Pixar films, but heâs not sure it will carry Disneyâs Marvel and Star Wars movies. Those could end up somewhere else â maybe something owned by Disney, maybe not.
Hereâs the relevant transcript excerpt:
What weâre saying specifically is that the Disney branded [service will] have the Disney and Pixar films. The disposition of the Marvel and Lucas or Star Wars films we have not determined yet. Weâve had a discussion internally about how best to bring them to the consumer. Itâs possible weâll continue to license them to a pay service like Netflix, but itâs premature to say exactly what we will do.
This later leads into his statement about different services that I quoted already.
On Marvel TV:
A Netflix rep says Disneyâs decision doesnât affect other deals that it has with Netflix, including one that brought a series of Marvel superhero originals like âDaredevilâ to Netflix.
The fracturing of the streaming ecosystem will ultimately just lead to more piracy. Itâs as simple as that. People donât want to spent 100 dollars a month on cable packages for the one or two programs they want to watch anymore. People will refuse to pay for four or five streaming services at the same time too. The more expensive and complicated things get, the more consumers will turn to the high seas for their entertainment.
The unevenness of international deals is another issue for streaming platforms historically and one that I donât think makes this any easier.
The only benefit I can think of from these moves is that I hope it spurs the creation of clear, regional, and good database services that can just tell you where something is available. As someone who doesnât really watch much TV, itâs a little frustrating that there doesnât seem to be a good service where I can say âokay, I want to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey this evening. What services offer this to stream or rent?â (if someone has a good one, Iâm all ears!). Having sixteen different streaming services with differently-overlapping offerings depending on the region will surely open a gap in the market for that kind of database, rightâŚ?
I wonder if Disneyâs new streaming service is going to be available in Canada, and if not I wonder if we will get to keep their movies on our Netflix. I really donât want to add a second subscription, especially since Iâm not the one paying for my Netflix.
