TL;DR
After bringing Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and more into its kingdom, Disney is now going to build the happiest streaming service on Earth.
The latest news update that Disney’s planning to migrate its greatest movie titles exclusively to its new, proprietary Disney streaming service in 2019 isn’t really brand new news. It’s just Disney exercising its position to establish Business 101: Know your value.
Disney has been licensing its films to Netflix (and many other services) since 2012, which has been a win-win scenario because Netflix pays top dollar and Disney does not have its own streaming service. Not for long. And when it finally gets here, they really want to make you sign up for it.
Guess it’s no coincidence that Disney’s content licensing deals — with Netflix, Starz, and with every other platform hosting Disney owned content — expires before the 2019 streaming service is launched.
Are people cool with a Disney streaming service?
Obviously, a lot of people are unhappy that Netflix won’t be carrying Disney movies and content anymore. Like with any other break-up, what I say to that is don’t be sad that it’s over — be happy that it happened! You got to watch/re-watch Rogue One, Doctor Strange, Beauty and the Beast, Inside Out and much more alongside all your favorite Netflix shows for just nine bucks (500 INR) a month!
No other studio in Hollywood has the kind of brand affinity and leverage with fans like Disney has — which is also why no other Hollywood studio is building a platform of this magnitude. And if you love Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm and/or Marvel movies (as many of us do) you’re going to love having all that content in one single place, rather than scattered around with various highest bidders.
But now to the question on your minds: Is Disney stuff worth 10 bucks a month just by itself? To answer that, you have to ask yourself this: If stranded on a desert island and could have only one platform and library of original movies and shows to choose from, would you want Netflix, which has been building original content close to four years, or Disney, which has been around for close to a Century with 400+ movies in its kingdom’s vault?
Come to think of it, Disney’s upcoming streaming service is the very reason Stranger Things, Narcos, G.L.O.W., House of Cards, and Orange is the New Black etc. etc. etc. exist — because Netflix has always known that the big studios will catch up to its platform model sooner than later thus, creating this urgency to build a solid library of their own content. Content which they can then can hoard for as long as they desire.
So when Disney Chairman & CEO Bob Iger confirmed at a Bank of America conference in New York that its exclusive streaming services (the other being for ESPN/sports) would keep all of its own original and good stuff to itself, why fret? It just means one thing plain & simple: You love Disney content, so you are going to pay and sign up for the Disney streaming service.
Here comes the money
Somehow, it feels like this was all part of a big, grand scheme of things, inevitable global plan. With the numerous platforms offering a HUGE variety of content (original and otherwise) covering pretty much everything desirable, maybe the launch of Disney’s streaming service is the moment you finally get rid of the $125 (the US national average) monthly cable bill.
Because think about it:
| Amazon Prime | $8.25 monthly |
| Netflix | $9 monthly |
| Hulu | $7.99 monthly |
| Disney | Lets say.. $12.99 monthly |
| HBO Go | $14.99 monthly |
That brings the total to around = $53. That’s less than Half the price!
So why worry? Mickey Mouse is coming to save the day!
