Saturday, October 19, 2019

Disney's Entry into Streaming -- Watch Out Netflix!


In a little over 3 weeks, Disney will launch its streaming service Disney+ for $6.99/month (or $69.99/year).  Subscribers will get access to movies and TV series from Disney, Pixar, National Geographic, Marvel, and Star Wars.  In a brilliant move, Disney is releasing the weekly Star Wars universe TV series, Mandalorian, at the launch of the streaming service.  Other brilliant moves include the offer to pre-order the service prior to November 12th, and the bundle for $13/month for Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN+.  The bundle, a combination of kids’ shows and movies (including the library of classics), entertainment for adults, and sports programming, seems an ideal package for many households.  Disney will need about 2 million subscribers to just make up the $150 million per year in licensing fees from Netflix that goes away at the end of the year.  Expect that threshold will be met quickly because of the value proposition that Disney is offering out of the gate.  The question is how will Netflix fare?  Without Disney content and a monthly price points of 12.99 (standard) and $15.99 (premium) will there be a larger than expected drop in Netflix subscribers?  Expect there will be challenges ahead for Netflix as its dominance in streaming will be challenged by well-financed, well-known competitors.

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