Disney Plus is on the horizon, the first streaming service territories are about to have a lot of Disney in the coming weeks, and there are already signs that this will be a good start.
Of course, there is no release date for Disney Plus UK yet, but Mickey House is still very successful. From high-res streaming to a nostalgia launcher catalog, Disney Plus is probably the most anticipated streaming service launch to date.
Obviously, the comparison is not fair in some respects; When Netflix first launched its OTT service, the same streaming market simply didn't exist as it does today. And Disney offers the kind of content catalog that most platforms can't dream of having at launch.
In the days leading up to launch, we've put together what we think are the 4 most important things that work for Disney Plus (+) and what could prevent it from reaching its full potential or dominating the market (-).
+ One-tier pricing
Single. Floor. Pricing We're so used to streaming services with various pricing plans and subscription models, be it Netflix Basic, Standard, and Premium plans, or the levels supported by Hulu's advertising. Unique Disney Plus is refreshingly simple. For just € 6.99 / AU € 8.99, you have access to the entire library, with no warnings or catches outside of your territory.
(Image credit: Disney Plus)
+ 4K HDR for everyone
Of course, most things about Disney Plus won't be in 4K or HDR (high dynamic range) resolution, but high-end video technologies are now found in a growing number of content providers, with enough 4K TVs in service. to really guarantee it. By incorporating these features into a single price point, Disney allows anyone who wants to access this level of power quality, and with so many successful Disney and Marvel movies coming out, it will be a crucial advantage for many movies. the spectators.
(Image credit: Disney Plus)
+ Night time content
Not at all. But with TV shows and movies dating back to the 1930s, starting with Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, the content differs from anything you find online.
You may not want to see much older stuff aside from a few trivia and classics, but getting such a storied catalog of Disney brand titles is a blast.
(Image credit: Disney / Lucasfilm)
+ Dedicated exclusive shows
Somewhere where Disney Plus has an advantage: It is already a content creator. While Netflix and Amazon Prime are starting to produce series and movies to circumvent licensing fees and acquire a larger brand identity, Disney has decades of production experience and a multitude of studios that it can draw on. to create a service that will bring fans back. and subscribe.
We already see this with new Star Wars TV shows on Disney Plus, including the Mandalorian launch title, and Marvel shows that focus on Loki, Hawkeye, and The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. (Not to mention new animated series and spin-offs from a number of lesser-known characters, including Toy Story's Forky 4.) But with the massive universes of the MCU and Star Wars, many fans are desperate to consume all the story they can and Disney Plus can give it to them.
But on the bright side, what could Disney Plus do?
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
- Restricted releases
If you focus on everything that Disney Plus will give you easy access to, it's easy to forget that Disney can restrict this access to other locations as well. We've already heard that American theaters lose the right to watch classic 20th Century Fox movies like The Fly, Omen, or Alien, and there's an obvious training effect for moviegoers that I don't want to settle for a living room experience. . Bad blood, it seems true.
- even old
Disney Plus will live and die in its marquee franchises, including Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar. But the danger of producing so much content within these channels is that Disney ends up fatiguing its audience with a one-note monoculture of endless streams and cuts.
Disney's acquisition of so many IP studios and solutions, despite the benefits it brings to Disney Plus subscribers, could easily saturate the market with Disney-based entertainment and become a threat to diversity in the marketplace.
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)
- Not so global releases
Disney Plus could be a victim of its own hype, as the service will not launch globally even though there is already global interest.
In the absence of the Disney Plus UK release date or ongoing projects in the rest of Europe (except the Netherlands), many viewers will not have the same option of Streaming services and it may be more difficult to attract later if Netflix and Amazon Prime continue to receive their claws.
(Image credit: Disney)
- Short of content
While it's exciting to watch hundreds of classic Disney movies and shows, hundreds of them will only have Disney. Netflix has around 8,000 titles in total, while Amazon Prime has over 14,000 TV shows (via Business Insider).
The long-running Twitter feed for Disney's launch titles hasn't even been close to 1,000, and it will be a while before Disney has a catalog of comparable size. While we are excited about the November 12 release, we cannot dispel the feeling that it may be difficult to continue to experience this rapidly growing excitement after the first few months (when people would probably have seen the titles they already wanted).