In 1923, Disney became a word that people hear and picture a big castle with princesses and two mice named Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Years later in 2007, Netflix took to the internet creating a live streaming service that would start a new phase called “Netflix and Chill.” Netflix has been a competitor with Hulu and Amazon for years now but a new competitor is ready to step in the area.
In 2019, Disney will launch Disney+ which is a subscription service that will have Disney’s films, Pixar, “Star Wars,” “Marvel” and National Geographic. The price for this service has yet to be announced.
Bob Iger,the chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company said, “I can say that our plan on the Disney side is to price this substantially below where Netflix is. That is in part reflective of the fact that it will have substantially less volume.”
Monthly (cheapest) Annually (cheapest)
Netflix’s services: $7.99 $95.88
Amazon’s services: $13.00 $119.00
Hulu’s services: $8.00 $96.00
Disney’s services are projected to be less than $10.99 per month to compete with the major streamers. Netflix’s contract with Disney ends at the end of 2019 which means 2020 is Netflix’s deadline to get other content to fill the spaces. Disney+ will not have any R-rated films, they will be on Hulu. Disney+ will have around 500 films from the Disney library and around 7,000 episodes of Disney TV fare.
Disney+ is adding new stories set in the worlds of Disney Pixar’s Monsters Inc. and Disney Channel’s High School Musical. These stories will only be available to Disney+ subscribers. Disney has set up the website for Disney+ but as of now it is just for updates.
“I found out about Disney+ in my communications class with Professor Castellano, he told us about this new streaming service in class and we had a debate on it. Before that class I did not hear about this new service,” Freshman education major Kelly Kane said.
The question that still remains is, will this new streaming service compete with Netflix? Will people stick with one service or buy both?
Professor Gene Castellano, a communications professor at Cabrini University said, a communications professor at Cabrini University said “Disney does have a strong brand, and a large following but my perception of the Disney brand is that they produce “family” entertainment, not the challenging, quirky variety of programming that I prefer.”
Out of 587 people polled on Instagram, 68 percent said this new service was a good thing, that Netflix will not be affected or that they need competition. While 32 percent disagreed and said this new service was not a good thing and they do not want to spend more money on a new service.
“There is such a variety on Netflix that I think people that are teens and above will not buy a plan for Disney+ because it is something extra that they will need to pay. Many college students have Netflix or Hulu and that is enough for them,” Kane said.
The service is intended for everyone to want, but the major group of people projected to buy Disney+ is parents of children. In 2017, Netflix has an estimated 61 percent in the U.S., while Amazon and Hulu control 36 percent and 22 percent. Adding Disney+ may lower these numbers. Is Netflix just the start of something huge?
“Personally I would not buy Disney+. I currently pay for Netflix and that has all my shows I watch, even with Disney taking shows and movies away I would still have the things I watch on Netflix,” Freshman Maddy Rooney said.
“I have no interest in buying another streaming channel. I am happy with Netflix, I get Prime Video free through my wife’s Amazon Prime membership. That said, I am not in the target age demographic for Disney+,” Castellano said.
