Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming service will be named Disney Play. CEO Bob Iger called the launch of the streaming service “the biggest priority of the company during calendar [year] 2019.”
Dubbed the “Netflix-killing” streaming service, Disney Play aims to tap into the same direct-to-consumer streaming video business model refined by current streaming giant Netflix.
The move to launch Disney Play also came in the midst of the multi-billion dollar bidding war between Disney and Comcast over who would claim 21st Century Fox’s library of diverse content. Disney eventually won with a $71.3 billion buyout.
Disney will no longer provide their content to Netflix, instead reserving their biggest blockbusters for streaming on their own platform. Disney will lose out on the roughly $300 million in annual revenue it currently earns from Netflix and pay-TV rights.
Disney will end its streaming process with “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” “Captain Marvel” will be the first Marvel Studios production to be offered exclusively through Disney Play. Other Disney projects poised to hit theaters in 2019 — “Toy Story 4,” “Frozen 2,” and live-action re-imaginings of “The Lion King,” “Aladdin” and “Dumbo” — will act as key selling points for the Disney service.
Also headed to Disney Play are new TV series based on Disney-Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., tween favorite High School Musical, and an all-new Marvel series.
By: Maytinee Kramer
