Disney's planned streaming service, Disney+, is one of the most hotly anticipated additions to the growing streaming marketplace. However, beyond the fact that the service was set to launch later this year, details have been lacking. Today, The Walt Disney Company hosted an Investor's Day where they had previously promised to reveal more about Disney+. The company did not disappoint. It's now confirmed that Disney+ will launch in the United States November 12, 2019 and a subscription price of 6.99 per month. Year long subscriptions will be available for $69.99
Bob Iger had previously said Disney+ would cost less than Netflix at launch, but I'm not sure anybody expected it to hit at about half the price. That's an incredibly aggressive move, especially considering the content that will be part of it.
Disney+ is fully expected to be a major player in the streaming game basically from day one. While other studios are planning their own streaming services as well, Disney is a different animal. The phrase "Disney movie" includes connotations that other studios simply can't match. Subscribers already know what they're getting from a Disney streaming service without having to look into it. It will be content suitable for the entire family, including some of the most popular movies ever made.
It was officially confirmed that Disney+ will be an ad free service. Also, Disney+ will allow all content on the app to be downloadable to view offline. In addition to streaming on tablets, computers and phones, the service is already confirmed to launch on Roku devices and the PlayStation 4. Disney is looking to have even more devices signed in time for launch.
Jennifer Lee, in discussing the Walt Disney Animation Studios films that will be on the service, mentioned that Frozen II will be on the service by the summer of 2020, which means films should be hitting the service six to eight months after they get released in theaters.
A lot of rumored original content from Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar was confirmed. In addition a lot of back catalog material was confirmed. Most of the Star Wars movies and many MCU films will be on the service on day one, though not quite everything will be there at launch. Most of the major films that won't be there on day one were confirmed to arrive within the first year.
Needless to say, Disney+ is going to have an impressive library of content on day one, and an even more incredible amount of content in the first year. While other streaming services like Netflix may have Disney beat in quantity, it's hard to argue Disney won't have the edge in quality. It will be interesting to see how Disney+ changes the streaming game.
