It was just last week that reports surfaced that Netflix was $20.54 billion in debt — yes, billion — which didn’t seem to bother its investors all that much as they concluded that to make money, you gotta spend money. Ok, so no reason to be alarmed, right?
In news that has rocked the industry to its core, Disney has announced that it will be pulling its movies from Netflix and starting a new streaming service solely composed of the Disney content — past, present, and future — which actually is pretty gigantic and could easily fill any streaming service. The goal is to launch the branded streaming service in 2019, which will be home for all their feature films and TV shows. It’s a huge move, but one that’s also inevitable.
Last year, Disney acquired BAMTech, a marketing and streaming company, and so it only makes sense that they’d eventually utilize those tools. As audience consumption continues to change, it’s natural that Disney — who have a portfolio of major branded properties (“Star Wars,” Marvel) and a deep library — would want to control of the streaming destiny of their product.
And while Netflix and Disney have long been partners — it’s why you’ve seen “The Avengers,” “Ant-Man,” and other movies pop up on the service — it seems like Disney is ready to strike out on their own. And the news can’t have been too much of a surprise for Netflix, who just this week acquired Millarworld, the home of Mark Millar’s various comic properties. Perhaps they are already preparing for when Marvel’s movies will leave the service (for now, the TV shows are staying put).
There are no details yet on price points or plans, but it does seem like for now, Disney’s streaming service will be in the U.S. only (which may mean their partnership with Netflix in other territories, such as Canada, may continue until the various rights issues are untangled). However, we may get some insight into how it all works when Disney launches their separate, ESPN-branded sports streaming service next year.
Disney has brand appeal and, as mentioned before, their catalog is enormous. There is already an incredible amount of devoted fans who will no doubt pay a reasonable monthly cost to have access to their favorite properties. There’s also the Disney Channel, which has enormous appeal for family viewing and has a wide range of shows at its disposal. This is a no-brainer decision for the Mouse House.
Nowadays, everyone wants to jump into the future and start their own streaming service, but it’s not the easiest thing to do. However, Disney has the content to back it up. The times are certainly changing, and it looks like the dream of cord cutting to save on cable costs is becoming slightly warped. If people started purchasing multiple streaming subscriptions, those costs add up, and it would be no different than paying for cable. Is it inevitable that we will all soon ditch cable and just subscribe to multiple streaming services? The possibility is there. [CNN]