Disney Plus
Disney+ (pronounced Disney Plus) is a subscription video on-demand streaming service owned and operated by the Direct-to-Consumer & International (DTCI) subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by The Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Television, with the service advertising content from Disney's Marvel, National Geographic, Pixar, and Star Wars brands in particular. Original films and television series are also distributed on Disney+, with ten films and seven series having been produced for the platform as of November 2019. Serving adjacent to Disney's other streaming platforms – the general programming-oriented Hulu and the sports-oriented ESPN+ – Disney+ focuses on "family-oriented entertainment", and features no R-rated or TV-MA-rated programming.
Disney+ relies on technology developed by Disney Streaming Services, originally established as BAMTech in 2015, when it was spun off from MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM). Disney increased its ownership share of BAMTech to a controlling stake in 2017, and subsequently transferred ownership to DTCI as part of a corporate restructure in anticipation of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox. With BAMTech helping to launch ESPN+ in early 2018, and Disney's streaming distribution deal with Netflix ending in 2019, Disney took the opportunity to use technologies being developed for ESPN+ to establish a Disney-branded streaming service that would feature its content. Production of films and television shows to feature exclusively on the platform began in late 2017; Marvel's original series for Netflix were cancelled in favor of Marvel Cinematic Universe series for Disney+.
Disney+ debuted on November 12, 2019, in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. The service was expanded to Australia, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico a week later, and will be expanded to select European countries and India in March 2020. Further expansions are planned for Europe and Latin America in late 2020 through 2021, as Disney's existing international streaming distribution deals with competing services expire. Upon launch, the service was met with positive reception of its content library, but was criticized for technical problems. Alterations made to movies and TV shows also attracted media attention. Ten million users subscribed to Disney+ within its first day of operation, and the service has 28.6 million subscribers as of February 2020.
History
In August 2016, Disney acquired a minority stake in BAMTech (a spin-off of MLB Advanced Media's streaming technology business) for $1 billion, with an option to acquire a majority stake in the future. Following the purchase, ESPN announced plans for an "exploratory [over-the-top] project" based on its technology (ESPN+) to supplant its existing linear television services.[1][2] On August 8, 2017, Disney invoked its option to acquire a controlling stake in BAMTech for $1.58 billion, increasing its stake to 75%. Alongside the acquisition, the company also announced plans for a second, Disney-branded direct-to-consumer service drawing from its entertainment content, which would launch after the company ends its existing distribution agreement with Netflix in 2019.[3][4] Soon there after, Agnes Chu, story and franchise development executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, was the first executive appointed for the unit, as senior vice president of content.[5] Chu led two projects to launch the new unit. First, Disney needed to verify exactly what content could be physically and legally made available through a streaming service right away, which meant physically reviewing all content in Disney's vaults that had not recently undergone restoration, and reviewing "binders of pieces of paper with legal deals" to identify potential obstacles.[6] Second, Chu met with leaders of Disney's various content-producing divisions to start brainstorming which projects would be appropriate for release on a streaming service rather than in movie theaters.[6]
In December 2017, Disney announced its intent to acquire key entertainment assets from 21st Century Fox. Intended to bolster Disney's content portfolio for its streaming products,[7][8] the acquisition completed on March 20, 2019.[9]
In January 2018, it was reported that former Apple and Samsung executive Kevin Swint had been appointed as the senior vice president and general manager reporting to BAMTech CEO Michael Paull, who leads development.[10][11] In March 2018, Disney's top level segment division was reorganized with the formation of Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International, which then included BAMTech, which contains "all consumer-facing tech and products".[12] In June of the same year, longtime Disney studio marketing chief, Ricky Strauss, was named president of content and marketing, however reporting to chairman of Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International Kevin Mayer.[13][14] In January 2019, Fox Television Group COO Joe Earley was named executive vice president of marketing and operations.[15] In June 2019, Matt Brodlie was named as senior vice president of international content development.[16] In August 2019, Luke Bradley-Jones was hired as senior vice president of direct to consumer and general manager of Disney+ for Europe and Africa.[17]
On November 8, 2018, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the service would be named Disney+ and that the company was targeting a launch in late 2019.[18] A September launch was reportedly planned,[19] but on April 11, 2019, Disney announced that Disney+ would launch on November 12, 2019, in the US. Disney stated that it planned to roll the service out worldwide over the next two years, targeting Western Europe and Asia-Pacific countries by late 2019 and early 2020, and Eastern Europe and Latin America during 2020. The timing of international launches is subject to the acquisition or expiration of existing streaming rights deals for Disney content.[20] On August 6, 2019, Iger announced that it will offer a streaming bundle of Disney+, ESPN+, and the ad-supported version of Hulu for $12.99 per month available at launch.[21] At the D23 Expo in August 2019, Disney opened subscriptions to Disney+ at a discounted rate for three years.[22]
On September 12, 2019, a trial version of Disney+ became available in the Netherlands with limited content available. This testing phase lasted until the official launch on November 12, when trial users were switched to a paid plan.[23][24] Disney+ became available for pre-order in September in the United States with a 7-day free trial upon launch.[25]
In October 2019, Disney released a three-and-a-half-hour trailer on YouTube to showcase their launch lineup.[26] It was also reported that Disney would ban advertisements for competitor Netflix from most of its TV platforms, except ESPN.[27][28]
Disney+ launched on November 12, 2019 Midnight Pacific Time in the announced initial three launch countries.[29] The services had some issues the first day from logging in (about 33% of the problems), accessing specific content (about 66%), setting up profiles and watch lists. Some of the issues were due to third party devices.[30]
On November 18, 2019, an investigation by ZDNet discovered that thousands of users' accounts were hacked using keystroke logging or info-stealing malware. Their email addresses and passwords were changed, "effectively taking over the account and locking the previous owner out", and their login information was put up for sale on the dark web.[31]
Content
The service is built around content from Disney's main entertainment studios, including Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, National Geographic, and select films from 20th Century Studios, Hollywood Pictures, Searchlight Pictures, and Touchstone Pictures.[32] The service will operate alongside Hulu, which Disney gained a controlling stake in following the 21st Century Fox purchase.[33] Bob Iger stated that Disney+ would be focused specifically on family-oriented entertainment (and not carry any R or TV-MA-rated content), and that Hulu would remain oriented towards general entertainment.[18][34][35] Hulu will also host Disney+ as an add-on service.[36]
Content library
It is expected that Disney+ will have approximately 7,000 television episodes and 500 films,[37] including original television series and films from Disney Channel and Freeform, and select titles from 20th Century Fox Television and ABC Studios. The service will also hold pay-cable rights to Disney material released from 2019 forward.[32][38][39][40][41][42] The service will also include select acquired programming from outside production companies that are not directly made by Disney or any of its subsidiaries (such as eOne's PJ Masks and BBC Studios' Bluey, though they both air on Disney Junior, with seasons 1 and 2 being available at launch, and seasons 3, 4 and 5 being available after all episodes of said seasons have aired). New releases from 20th Century Studios (including Blue Sky's Spies in Disguise) will not immediately be available on either Disney+ or Hulu, as the studio has pre-existing output deals with other premium TV/streaming providers (including HBO in the U.S. until 2022,[43] Crave in Canada[44] and Sky in the UK, Ireland, Italy and Germany). Captain Marvel, Dumbo (2019), and Avengers: Endgame became the first theatrically-released Disney films to stream exclusively on Disney+ within the pay-cable window.[14]
Iger said that Disney+ will eventually host the entire Disney film library, including films currently in the "Disney Vault". However, he stated that the controversial Song of the South (1946), which has never been released on home video in its entirety in the U.S., will not be released on the service.[45] A post-credits scene from Toy Story 2 was also excluded.[46] Films such as Dumbo, Peter Pan, and The Jungle Book debuted on Disney+ unedited, but carrying a disclaimer on their "Details" page regarding scenes containing cultural stereotypes.[47][48][a] The Simpsons[b] (which is streaming exclusively on the service),[51] Darkwing Duck, The Little Mermaid, and Tron: Uprising are missing episodes.[52][53] In addition, the first few episodes of Gravity Falls had the symbol on Grunkle Stan's fez removed due to the episodes being uploaded from edits created for foreign markets which deemed the symbol offensive to the Islamic flag.[54]
It was initially unclear whether the first six films of the Star Wars franchise would be available in the United States at the service's launch, as TBS held streaming rights through 2024 as part of its cable rights to the franchise,[55] but on April 11, 2019, it was announced that the films would be available at launch along with The Force Awakens and Rogue One,[56][57] with The Last Jedi added on December 26, 2019, and Solo and The Rise of Skywalker will be available within its first year of operation. The rights to The Force Awakens (among various other Disney films) are owned by the premium television network Starz (as they have previously been the first-run pay-TV provider for Walt Disney Studios' releases between 1994 and 2015). In order to sub-license the streaming rights, it was reported that Disney had agreed to provide an advertising placement for Starz at the conclusion of the registration process for Disney+ and ESPN+ on PC and Android platforms. No promotions for Starz (or ads of any other kind) will be contained within the service proper.[58][59]
In the United States, most of the films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe were available at launch, with the exception of seven films: Thor: Ragnarok (now part of the service), Black Panther (now available on the service), Avengers: Infinity War (scheduled to be available June 25, 2020), and Ant-Man and the Wasp (scheduled to be available July 29, 2020), due to existing licensing deals with Netflix; and The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Spider-Man: Far From Home, which are unavailable because their distribution rights are respectively owned by Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures.[60][61]
Despite being available at launch on Disney+, at least 4 films – Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties – have disappeared from the service in the United States.[62]
Original scripted content
Original series based on Marvel properties and Star Wars are being produced, with the former including eight new Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, an animated What If series, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.[63][64] The latter includes The Mandalorian, a television series that is set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, a currently untitled spin-off series focused on Cassian Andor from Rogue One, a seventh season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Kenobi starring Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, reprising his role from the prequel trilogy.[18][65] The service's initial original content goal was planned to include four to five original films and five television shows with budgets from $25–100 million.[35] In January 2019, it was reported that Disney will spend up to $500 million in original content for the service.[66] The Mandalorian alone is expected to cost $100 million, across two seasons of eight episodes each.[67]
In January 2019, Disney+ ordered Diary of a Future President from CBS Television Studios, its first series from an outside production company.[68]
A television series remake of the film High Fidelity was initially announced for Disney+, but in April 2019, it was announced that the project had been moved to Hulu, citing concerns from its staff that the positioning of Disney+ as a family-friendly service was at odds with their creative vision for the series.[69] Love, Victor, a spin-off of the film Love, Simon, was similarly shifted from Disney+ to Hulu in February 2020.[70]
In August 2019, Iger announced that 20th Century Fox films such as Home Alone, Night at the Museum, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Cheaper by the Dozen will be "'reimagined' for 'a new generation'" exclusively for Disney+[71] by Fox Family.[72] Original episodic content will be released weekly, opposed to all at once[73] with the release time to be 12:01 a.m. PT on Fridays, starting November 15, 2019.[74]
Original unscripted content
Disney also plans original factual television content for the service, aiming to "find the ethos of Disney in everyday stories, inspiring hope and sparking the curiosity of audiences of all ages." Some of these series will have ties to Disney properties, including behind-the-scenes documentary miniseries focusing on Disney studios (such as one following the production of Frozen II),[63] the Disney-themed competition cooking competition Be Our Chef, Cinema Relics (a documentary series showcasing iconic costume and props from Disney films), Marvel's Hero Project (a series that will showcase "inspiring kids [that] have dedicated their lives to selfless acts of bravery and kindness"), and The Imagineering Story (a Leslie Iwerks-directed documentary series chronicling the history and work of Walt Disney Imagineering).[75][76] National Geographic is also producing Magic of the Animal Kingdom (a docuseries following the animal caretakers of Disney's Animal Kingdom and Epcot's aquarium) and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.[77]
Disney reached a two-year pact with the documentary studio Supper Club (Brian McGinn, David Gelb and Jason Sterman, producers of Netflix's Chef's Table) to produce content for the service, including the conservation-themed nature documentary series Earthkeepers, and a documentary series chronicling the cultural and societal impact of Marvel's characters. Other factual series include Encore! (a Kristen Bell-produced series that reunites casts from high school musical productions to reprise their roles), (Re)Connect (a reality series produced by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' Milojo Productions), Rogue Trip (a travel series featuring Bob Woodruff and his son Mack), and the reality competition Shop Class.[75][76] On December 3, 2019, Disney+ announced the new Star Wars-based children's game show Jedi Temple Challenge to be hosted by Ahmed Best, who voiced Jar Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy.[78]
Device support and service features
Disney+ is available for streaming via web browsers on PCs, as well as apps on Apple iOS devices and Apple TV, Android mobile devices and Android TV, Amazon devices such as Fire TV and Fire HD, Chromecast, Chromebook, Samsung smart TVs, LG smart TVs, Roku devices, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows 10.[79][80] Content available on Disney+ is also listed in the Apple TV app.[81]
Accessibility features include closed captioning, Descriptive Video Service, audio description, and audio navigation assistance.[82]
Disney+ allows seven user profiles per account, with the ability to stream on four devices concurrently and unlimited downloads for offline viewing. Content is able to be streamed in resolutions up to 4K Ultra HD in Dolby Vision and HDR10, with Dolby Atmos sound on supported devices. Legacy content is available in English, Spanish, French, and Dutch, while Disney+ originals features additional language options.[83]
Launch
Disney+ was launched first in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands on November 12, 2019 just before 3:00 a.m. EST (UTC–5). Disney+ launched in Australia, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico on November 19, 2019, and is set to launch in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Ireland, and "a number of other countries in Western Europe" on March 24, 2020.[20][84] Disney+ is expected to launch in Eastern Europe, over the course of a year, and Latin America, over the course of three months, both starting in October 2020.[84]
In December 2019, it was announced that Canal+ would be the exclusive distributor of Disney+ in France.[85] Three days before the launch, Kevin Mayer, chairman of the Direct-to-Consumer & International division, announced that Disney+ is delaying its launch in France until April 7 because of a request from the French government to prevent internet gridlock as the response to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic places additional strain on communications networks.[86]
In February 2020, Iger announced that it planned to launch Disney+ in India on March 29, 2020 by means of its existing service Hotstar, rebranding its paid tiers as a co-branded service. Hotstar was acquired by Disney during the Fox purchase, and has been the dominant streaming service in the country
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