Disney to launch own streaming service - bye-bye Netflix

[Fangorn]

Disney announced today on their earnings call that in 2019, they will start their own streaming video service. The service will steam Disney's video library, as well as ESPN contract. A result of the announcement is that Disney will be removing their content from Netflix.

The story from Variety can be found here

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/bob-iger-disney-streaming-movie-pixar-disney-1202519974/

Steve

[DizneyFreak2002]

Yep, and DC/WB are doing it too...

[texas211]

Pretty soon you'll need a tv guide to tell whats on tv on the 46 different streaming solutions.

[Tekneek]

This only works for me if they open up the vault. I won't pay anything for an arbitrarily limited selection like they've been subletting to others.

As far as the ESPN part goes, I read that it would not include content from the channels. That essentially sounds like they will take ESPN 3 and sell it as a standalone subscription service. As well, I read that they might somehow bundle in content from BAM Tech, but it isn't clear to me how they can take MLB.TV and NHL.TV and make it part of some other service considering those are specifically an out-of-market service (streaming equivalent of MLB Extra Innings and NHL Center Ice on cable/satellite).

[Mendelson]

This only works for me if they open up the vault. I won't pay anything for an arbitrarily limited selection like they've been subletting to others.

As far as the ESPN part goes, I read that it would not include content from the channels. That essentially sounds like they will take ESPN 3 and sell it as a standalone subscription service. As well, I read that they might somehow bundle in content from BAM Tech, but it isn't clear to me how they can take MLB.TV and NHL.TV and make it part of some other service considering those are specifically an out-of-market service (streaming equivalent of MLB Extra Innings and NHL Center Ice on cable/satellite).

Absolutely on the vault. I just got an email from the Movie Club today saying something like, "Last chance to get Aladdin!" because I assume it's going back in the vault. Come on Disney...this was always an insulting an idea and in 2017 is quaint. You really think you putting some artificial hold on supply is going to stop people from finding and watching this movie FOR FREE? They're just shooting themselves in the foot.

[Clay Ransone]

This only works for me if they open up the vault. I won't pay anything for an arbitrarily limited selection like they've been subletting to others.


Same. And by vault I mean I want the stuff that was in Vault Disney on the Disney Channel and some of the stuff from the Disney Channel for the days of it as a premium service like Mouseterpiece Theater.

[1DisneyNut]

Here we go again with these big entertainment companies dividing up content into exclusive services. People are not going to pay for multiple streaming services to get each little bit of content. This is exactly why black market free streaming exists and by doing this they are pushing more people toward the black market.

If all of the entertainment media companies would quit trying to be greedy and allow netflix and hulu to offer all of their content at a reasonable monthly rate, there would be only a fraction of the black market streaming going on. But whatever, set up exclusive streaming services and exclusive contracts and then sit and cry about all the people finding the content for free.

[Tekneek]

Same. And by vault I mean I want the stuff that was in Vault Disney on the Disney Channel and some of the stuff from the Disney Channel for the days of it as a premium service like Mouseterpiece Theater.

Indeed. If they literally open up the entire vault, allowing you to stream every Wonderful World of Disney/Color episode, all the original content produced for The Disney Channel, every short ever made, every film they ever created, etc, it would be a very compelling service that would stand up to anything in existence.

I am told the model for this service is DisneyLife, though, which is their exclusive streaming service they've already been running over in the UK. If that is the truly the case, what they want to do is have you pay $15 a month for a few hundred films, some soundtracks, some read-a-long books, etc. I won't even bother with a free trial for a service like that.

I suppose these decisions make sense in the short term, but I continue to wonder just how far Disney can ride on their reputation. I had been a Disney nut, but largely now my 4 children barely watch anything from Disney. There is one movie, Moana, from the past 3 years that they have watched more than once. Sometimes they want to watch The Disney Channel, but most of the time they never watch, listen, or even mention Disney properties. I imagine that, as everything related to Disney becomes more exclusive, that more people will begin to grow up without going to a park or seeing much Disney content. I wonder what the long term consequences of that might be, but the current executives will have golden parachuted out of the plane by then.

[Stu29573]

Current Disney content has become...well...bad. It's almost as if we've gone back to the late 70's/ early 80's, when the company was largely adrift. At that time they were afraid to do anything "edgy" or "current." Now it seems like, in some ways, the opposite is true. They seem to be wanting to be the "hippest kid on the block" while forgetting their roots...except for the live action from animation movement, of course, which they have already run into the ground after only a couple of movies.
I think the problem is a complete lack of focus and ingenuity. They brought in Marvel and Star Wars, not realizing that those brands had the ability to dilute the original Disney product. Pixar worked better, of course, but that's largely because Pixar was always based on a Disney creative design.
All in all, Disney today is an unfocused mess, in all of their divisions, and the bottom line is beginning to show it. They desperately need new leadership before it's too late.

[texas211]

Current Disney content has become...well...bad. It's almost as if we've gone back to the late 70's/ early 80's, when the company was largely adrift. At that time they were afraid to do anything "edgy" or "current." Now it seems like, in some ways, the opposite is true. They seem to be wanting to be the "hippest kid on the block" while forgetting their roots...except for the live action from animation movement, of course, which they have already run into the ground after only a couple of movies.
I think the problem is a complete lack of focus and ingenuity. They brought in Marvel and Star Wars, not realizing that those brands had the ability to dilute the original Disney product. Pixar worked better, of course, but that's largely because Pixar was always based on a Disney creative design.
All in all, Disney today is an unfocused mess, in all of their divisions, and the bottom line is beginning to show it. They desperately need new leadership before it's too late.


Exactly! I thought I was alone in this. In my mind, Marvel and SW, are acquisitions. Not in the same breath as the other movies. For those, I'll need to be continually wowed to keep me interested. Nostaliga, and that "feel good" attitude is what I go for. I come back for Jungle Cruise, POTC, Living w/ the Land, BTMRR etc, I enjoy family innovations like Monster's Inc (at the time), Nemo the Musical, Soarin, 7 Dwarfs, TestTrack. So I can enjoy new. But to try and do all of these thrills, or Star Wars this or that, or too much of any movie (Frozen, Guardians,) then I do go, why?

[Cinderelley]

My granddaughter likes Moana. There isn't too much other Disney stuff that keeps her attention. She loves Trolls, Sesame Street, etc. Disney just isn't a big part of her world, which kind've makes me sad. At the same time though, I don't want to watch what they are putting out now either. The last stuff I saw was entirely too cheesy.

[Tekneek]

My granddaughter likes Moana.

That is the only movie Disney has released over the past few years that we have watched more than once.

[1DisneyNut]

My granddaughter likes Moana. There isn't too much other Disney stuff that keeps her attention. She loves Trolls, Sesame Street, etc. Disney just isn't a big part of her world, which kind've makes me sad. At the same time though, I don't want to watch what they are putting out now either. The last stuff I saw was entirely too cheesy.

Their TV shows are super cheesy, over the top corny. I can't stand for the Disney Channel to be on our TV because they have been using the exact same laugh track in their shows for 30 years and they use it liberally, including parts that frankly aren't really funny. It has gotten to the point all I hear is the laugh track and it makes my skin crawl.

[texas211]

That is the only movie Disney has released over the past few years that we have watched more than once.

Yeah, one of our favorites. But, I like Planes 2 quite a bit. The background visuals and elements are great in both. Plus I'm Asian/pacific islander, so its a nice connection.

[Ian]

I suppose these decisions make sense in the short term, but I continue to wonder just how far Disney can ride on their reputation. I had been a Disney nut, but largely now my 4 children barely watch anything from Disney. There is one movie, Moana, from the past 3 years that they have watched more than once. Sometimes they want to watch The Disney Channel, but most of the time they never watch, listen, or even mention Disney properties. I imagine that, as everything related to Disney becomes more exclusive, that more people will begin to grow up without going to a park or seeing much Disney content. I wonder what the long term consequences of that might be, but the current executives will have golden parachuted out of the plane by then.Wow ... I normally agree with you on most things, but on this I have a very different point of view. I'm actually quite shocked, though, to see how many people agreed with you so maybe I'm off base I dunno.

I've viewed the last five to ten years of Disney animation as something of a renaissance for them. In fact, where it used to be that Pixar's animation offerings were head and shoulders better than Disney's, I almost feel as though that has flipped. WDFA has had some AMAZING films in the last few years. I mean Frozen is a masterpiece and is only the highest grossing animated feature of all time. Moana was a gem, as well. My kids (ages 7-15) absolutely adore these films and watch them constantly. In between those two was Zootopia, which is another fantastic film that my kids (and my wife and I, as well) were obsessed with for a year after it came out. And Big Hero 6 was also a terrific film. I'd submit you'd be hard pressed to find four Disney animated features in a row that were of this quality at any time in their entire history.

As far as the Disney Channel content, all of my kids grew up almost exclusively on Playhouse Disney/Disney Junior and then graduated to the Disney Channel. The pre-school shows have been excellent for decades, but I'll admit the tweener/teen shows on The Disney Channel are a little corny. But then again I'm not the target audience and my kids and all their friends are obsessed with like Good Luck Charlie and shows like that.

I'll slam Disney for a lot of things, but honestly I don't think their content output has ever been stronger.

[Tekneek]

I've viewed the last five to ten years of Disney animation as something of a renaissance for them. In fact, where it used to be that Pixar's animation offerings were head and shoulders better than Disney's, I almost feel as though that has flipped. WDFA has had some AMAZING films in the last few years. I mean Frozen is a masterpiece and is only the highest grossing animated feature of all time. Moana was a gem, as well. My kids (ages 7-15) absolutely adore these films and watch them constantly. In between those two was Zootopia, which is another fantastic film that my kids (and my wife and I, as well) were obsessed with for a year after it came out. And Big Hero 6 was also a terrific film. I'd submit you'd be hard pressed to find four Disney animated features in a row that were of this quality at any time in their entire history.

Frozen was 2013. I liked Big Hero 6, but I was the only one of the six of us. Zootopia was not bad, but it was one-and-done 'round here.

I won't deny that we might be outliers, but so are many of our friends. We used to have group outings to see the newest Disney/Pixar films, almost nobody is interested these days.

My children (ranging from 4 - 16) almost never watch the Disney content that is already on Netflix/Hulu (they won't miss it when it is gone, clearly). I realize Disney is still massively successful, but it feels like something might be changing. I'm sure my kids would have a good time if we dragged them to WDW again, but they aren't asking us to go. They regularly ask about the possibility of going to Universal. We've actually begun re-homing portions of our Disney movie collection.

I still contend that a Disney streaming service that unlocks the entire vault will instantly dominate the streaming space. I suspect they're going to play the small, safe, predictable game and expect premium service subscription fees for it.

[Mendelson]

Wow ... I normally agree with you on most things, but on this I have a very different point of view. I'm actually quite shocked, though, to see how many people agreed with you so maybe I'm off base I dunno. I'll slam Disney for a lot of things, but honestly I don't think their content output has ever been stronger.

Gotta agree with Ian. My son was born in 2010 and the stuff released just since he was born I think has been tremendous.

We own probably 40 disney movies (not counting Pixar) and paid for those all legitimately (like suckers!). Add in another 12 or so Pixar movies....I'd rather have paid for the opportunity to stream all that rather than collecting blu rays over time. If you assume $15 per disc I've bought, that's over $750. It would take a while to match that with a subscription (depending on what they charge, of course)...and new content will continue to be added (more discs I would have to buy). I don't mind this.

BTW, anyone want to buy about 50 DVDs/blu rays? Priced to move!

[Tekneek]

BTW, anyone want to buy about 50 DVDs/blu rays? Priced to move!

You should wait until the details come out. :)

[Tekneek]

I did not notice that Disney had cut the price on DisneyLife (their U.K. streaming service) in half since the launch. If they bring that over at about the same price, $7 - $8 a month, it won't be too bad. Not interesting to me if they don't plus out the library, but would be more competitive than what they launched with.

[texas211]

That did remind me, we do like the Disney nature films.

[Cinderelley]

Wow ... I normally agree with you on most things, but on this I have a very different point of view. I'm actually quite shocked, though, to see how many people agreed with you so maybe I'm off base I dunno.

I've viewed the last five to ten years of Disney animation as something of a renaissance for them. In fact, where it used to be that Pixar's animation offerings were head and shoulders better than Disney's, I almost feel as though that has flipped. WDFA has had some AMAZING films in the last few years. I mean Frozen is a masterpiece and is only the highest grossing animated feature of all time. Moana was a gem, as well. My kids (ages 7-15) absolutely adore these films and watch them constantly. In between those two was Zootopia, which is another fantastic film that my kids (and my wife and I, as well) were obsessed with for a year after it came out. And Big Hero 6 was also a terrific film. I'd submit you'd be hard pressed to find four Disney animated features in a row that were of this quality at any time in their entire history.

As far as the Disney Channel content, all of my kids grew up almost exclusively on Playhouse Disney/Disney Junior and then graduated to the Disney Channel. The pre-school shows have been excellent for decades, but I'll admit the tweener/teen shows on The Disney Channel are a little corny. But then again I'm not the target audience and my kids and all their friends are obsessed with like Good Luck Charlie and shows like that.

I'll slam Disney for a lot of things, but honestly I don't think their content output has ever been stronger.

The one good thing about Disney is that they have a lot of stuff for a lot of different tastes. I absolutely hated Frozen and Zootopia. My daughter doesn't like them either, and they don't hold my granddaughter's attention. I did like Tangled. I will take Lion King/Little Mermaid/etc over the movies now though. My favorites are still the original princess movies.

[Ian]

It occurred to me I forgot to respond to the actual topic of this post :blush:

I'm pretty concerned about the direction Disney is taking here. As others have said, what if all content owners decide to use their own streaming service to distribute? The main reason streaming services like Hulu and Netflix have become so popular is because consumers are rebelling against paying cable providers $250 a month for "bundles." In most cases people use what? Like 25% of what they pay for ... it's a dead business model that consumers aren't going to tolerate any longer. This is nothing more than the next CD's/Napster/iTunes market disruption.

If all content owners suddenly decide to follow Disney's model then what? You're going to have to pay $10 a month to 25 different people to get access to their content? It's not going to work. Forget about the money aspect (25 different providers is an exaggeration anyway), but consider the logistics/user experience of that? Do you really want 10 different bills coming in for content every month? 10 different apps and/or devices to deal with just to watch a little TV? Businesses are making this WAY too complicated and it's simply out of the rampant and excessive greed that permeates Corporate America these days. Gotta have that 20% YoY growth or the Street will make you pay the price! Stop already ... the consumers ALWAYS win. In the age of the Internet everything is basically available for free. People want to be honest but if they can't get what they want at a price they consider fair they will go outside the rules to get what they want.

Content owners should be content owners and distributors should be distributors. Keep it simple, stupids :D

[Cinderelley]

Keep it simple, stupids :D

Tell us how you really feel. :P

[texas211]

And so we go back to bundled cable. Entertainment has gotten too complex. I don't want to work this hard to watch tv. Half the time, I'm just looking for something watch (barring sports, racing ) being on. Anything else I record. I don't watch any of the just streaming content.

As Vince said, Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't

So I'm not going to mess w/ any of that, until I absolutely have to. I fear one day I'll have to have 10 different sports services just to watch racing, football, baseball, hockey, etc.

But, it is the way. If Disney is going to have their own streaming, I hope they pipe in some of the resort stuff they show, more info about the parks, etc.

[Ian]

Tell us how you really feel. :PI usually do lol

[Cinderelley]

I usually do lol

That must be why I like you so much. :)

[Cinderelley]

And so we go back to bundled cable. Entertainment has gotten too complex. I don't want to work this hard to watch tv. Half the time, I'm just looking for something watch (barring sports, racing ) being on. Anything else I record. I don't watch any of the just streaming content.

As Vince said, Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't

So I'm not going to mess w/ any of that, until I absolutely have to. I fear one day I'll have to have 10 different sports services just to watch racing, football, baseball, hockey, etc.

But, it is the way. If Disney is going to have their own streaming, I hope they pipe in some of the resort stuff they show, more info about the parks, etc.


Yeah, it isn't worth the effort to me. I don't even own a television. There's so much more to do in life that is way better than dealing with this.

[Tekneek]

Yeah, it isn't worth the effort to me. I don't even own a television. There's so much more to do in life that is way better than dealing with this.

This is the logical conclusion of all this madness. The more difficult it becomes, the less money everybody gets to make. People either go outside of the legal channels or they walk away completely. When people get accustomed to not watching your content at all, you're done.

[Stu29573]

I still have my bundled service (cable/ internet/ TV) simply because I don't want to mess with anything else. I do have Netflix streaming, but we rarely watch it, so I'm thinking of canning it. My daughter and her family just got a TV (after seven years of marriage) because they got a free one with some offer they did. They only have Amazon streaming.
Bottom line (at least the way I see it) is that the providers got themselves into this mess by gouging the consumer, and now they are WAY overestimating that same consumer's loyalty to their content. Most people I know just don't care enough to jump through the hoops anymore. I keep my current situation just because it's easy...not because I'd die if I lost any of it. You can be sure that I'm not going to go out of my way to sign up for special streaming services for certain content. For me, it's not about money, it's about hassle...

[texas211]

I still have my bundled service (cable/ internet/ TV) simply because I don't want to mess with anything else. I do have Netflix streaming, but we rarely watch it, so I'm thinking of canning it. My daughter and her family just got a TV (after seven years of marriage) because they got a free one with some offer they did. They only have Amazon streaming.
Bottom line (at least the way I see it) is that the providers got themselves into this mess by gouging the consumer, and now they are WAY overestimating that same consumer's loyalty to their content. Most people I know just don't care enough to jump through the hoops anymore. I keep my current situation just because it's easy...not because I'd die if I lost any of it. You can be sure that I'm not going to go out of my way to sign up for special streaming services for certain content. For me, it's not about money, it's about hassle...

I think that's it. Who wants the hassle? I'm right there w/ you.

[luvdiznee]

Life is complicated enough without having to decide what channels to pick or what networks to go with. I'm sorry but there are a lot more important choices to deal with than what to watch on t.v.

Guess it sounds like I need a vacation..lol...

[DizneyFreak2002]

I'll be sticking with netflix... Disney's content isn't good enough to get me to sign up for their service.. Plus, I already buy their animated movies on Blu-ray... Why pay for a subscription when the only other stuff they will have is aimed for 5 years old?? yea, no thank you... I'll stick with Netflix...