Disney+ should be competitive with Netflix
Recent increases in Netflix prices and stricter limitations on simultaneous streams make Disney+ look to be a bargain. Netflix now costs $9 a month for a standard definition plan that has only one stream. To get HD screening you need to pay $13 a month but you get 2 simultaneous streams. For 4k and four simultaneous streams the price rises to $16 a month.
CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings acknowledged that the price raises may have been partly responsible for the company’s failure to reach the forecast number of subscribers: “Our missed forecast was across all regions, but slightly more so in regions with price increases,” Hastings wrote in his letter to shareholders. “We don’t believe competition was a factor since there wasn’t a material change in the competitive landscape during Q2, and competitive intensity and our penetration is varied across regions.”
Netflix saw the first drop in US subscribers since 2011. The results caused Netflix stock to tumble and the steep price increases have slowed growth.
A Disney+ bundle
For only $12.99 a month ESPN and Hulu can be bundled with Disney plus. However, there will be just two simultaneous ESPN+ streams and just a basic ad-supported Hulu stream. Netflix for now has a much more robust library than Disney+ but the streaming service will fill out its platform with a number of original shows. Disney will be releasing new episodes of original series on Disney+ weekly later this year. It will also release new episodes of original series weekly rather than all at once.
The company will bring a Ms Marvel series, and also a She Hulk series and also one on Moon Knight. A much anticipated Obi-Wan Kenobi series is also planned. There will be numerous Star War series available and much other existing material.
Disney has majority ownership in both Hulu and ESPN
Wikipedia describes Hulu: “Hulu (/ˈhuːluː/) is a U.S.-based subscription video on demand service fully controlled and majority-owned by Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International, a business segment of The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast’s NBCUniversal as an equity stakeholder owning 33%.The service was initially established as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBC Universal, Providence Equity Partners, and later Walt Disney, serving as an aggregation of recent episodes of television series from their respective television networks. In 2010, Hulu launched a subscription service, initially branded as Hulu Plus, which featured full seasons of programs from the companies and other partners, and undelayed access to new episodes. In 2017, the company launched Hulu with Live TV—an over-the-top IPTV service featuring linear television channels. Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) later held a stake in the service. As of the first quarter of 2019, Hulu had 28 million subscribers.[5]
ESPN is a sports network: “ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is a U.S.-based pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen along with his son Scott Rasmussen and Ed Egan.
ESPN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located in Bristol, Connecticut. The network also operates offices in Miami, New York City, Seattle, Charlotte, and Los Angeles. James Pitaro currently serves as chairman of ESPN, a position he has held since March 5, 2018, following the resignation of John Skipper on December 18, 2017.[1] While ESPN is one of the most successful sports networks, there has been much criticism of ESPN, which includes accusations of biased coverage,[2] conflict of interest, and controversies with individual broadcasters and analysts.As of September 2018, ESPN is available to approximately 86 million television households (93.2% of households with pay television) in the United States.[3]”
ESPN broadcasts in more than 200 countries. It operates channels in Australia, Brazil, and the UK as well as in Canada’s Thhe Sports Network (TSN ) in which ESPN has a twenty percent interest.
