Disney Reveals Price, Release Date, and Content Plans for Disney+ Streaming Service

Derangel

Fully [H]
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
20,326
Source (Not all info in this post is there, but its the most complete single article I found during a quick search)

It feels like we have been hearing about Disney+ for a while, but there has been very little solid information on it. Today, Disney held an investors meeting talking about the streaming service. There is a lot to go into so I am just going to do a quick run down of things in this news post but I'd encourage people to read the Ars source as well as other articles around the web for more details.

Disney+ will launch November 12 2019
There will only one subscription tier with two ways to pay for it. Either a monthly price of $6.99 or a yearly at $69.99
There will be no ads
For the first year of the service Disney plans to add 25 new, episodic, series and 10 original movies.
On top of the original content there will be over 7500 episodes of currently airing and off air TV series as well as over 500 movies from both the Disney and Fox libraries.
There will be over 100 "recent" movies including Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, among others.
Disney (I'd presume Fox movies as well) movies will be added to the service sometime after they are out of theaters (don't see where they mentioned an exact timeline)
Disney expects to have between 60 million to 90 million subscribers by the end of 2024
The previously announced Mandalorian series will premier with the service
Entire Star Wars franchise expected to be on the series by the end of 2020 due to various existing contracts with other services
Simpsons will exclusively stream at Disney+. All seasons
As previously announced the entire Disney Animation Studios and Pixar libraries will be on the service
The service will support 4K and HDR, no mention of upscaling for older content.
Apps will be coming to a ton of platforms. Smart TVs, Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, PC and Mac support, PS4, XB1, Switch, and smartphone.
Smartphone and tablet apps will allow subscribers to download all Disney+ content for offline viewing. There are no limits to the number of times these downloaded copies can be watched, as long as the person remains a subscriber. Presumably, this means occasional checks to ensure the person is allowed to watch the content. No mention on if this will be an option on other platforms.

Star Wars: Mandalorian At launch
Star Wars: Unnamed Rogue One prequel series focused on K-2SO and Cassian (Alan Tudyk and Gabriel Luna return for their roles)
Toy Story: A series of shorts starring the character Forky called "Forky Asks a Question" At launch
Toy Story: Lamp Life. No info revealed. Year 1
Frozen 2 making of documentary. Year 1.
Marvel: WandaVision staring Elizabeth Olson and Paul Bettany Year 2
Marvel: Falcon and Winter Solider staring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan Year 1
Marvel: What If...? An animated series about "what if" certain things happened differently in the MCU. Based on the "What If...?" line of comics. First episode is about Peggy Carter getting the super solider serum instead and scrawny Steve Rogers using a suit of armor designed by Howard Stark. No mention of voice actors for that episode. Year 1
Marvel: Loki. Staring Tom Hiddleston.
NatGeo: Magic of the Animal Kingdom. Documentary about the people that care for the animals at Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Epcot SeaBase. Year 1.
Movie: Live action Lady and the Tramp. At Launch
Movie: Phineas and Ferb animated movie. I have no idea what this is. Year 1.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series That's a mouthful. At launch.

Disney+ interface:
disney-plus-1166760.jpg
 
I am 100% in on this if I can watch ALL of the Marvel and Disney Classic movies. If they try to hold back newer movies from streaming it’s a no go.
 
I am 100% in on this if I can watch ALL of the Marvel and Disney Classic movies. If they try to hold back newer movies from streaming it’s a no go.

Every MCU movie should be on there by launch. Going forward, I'd guess maybe they'd add them a month or two after they finish their theatrical run.
 
Could be pretty good. Have to see how the stream flows. And where.

Disney confirmed plans for Disney+ launches in "each major region of the world" over the next two years. These launches will vary, in part, based on expiring content contracts with streaming providers in specific territories. Exact timelines for which regions will get first crack at Disney+ at the same time, or after, the United States were not yet confirmed.

If you live in a minor region of the world...well... there's always VHS streaming options...

11172280234_15cb643270_b.jpg
 
Every MCU movie should be on there by launch. Going forward, I'd guess maybe they'd add them a month or two after they finish their theatrical run.
You think? I would expect them to wait till it's been out on Disk for a few months, because that can easily add one or 2 hundred million to the bottom line.

This is a great price point (which I'm sure will go up as time goes on). That said, I'm not sure if I'd do an annual sub. I have trouble keeping up with Netflix (never mind Amazon's shows which I never manage to get to). For me, it'll depend on how much new content there is. I rarely watch movies on streaming services, so the appeal of their catalog is limited...for the marvel stuff, I fully expect to buy virtually all the movies as they come out on 4k (though I'll need to think about some of the Thor movies and I can't imagine buying the hulk flick which did nothing for me. Kinda torn on Iron Man 2/3 as well...So I guess maybe if I did a marathon of the MCU, I'd get Disney for a month and to fill in those movies....but I'm still not gonna watch Hulk.

Nevertheless, I think they'll get a lot of subscribers on day 1. I'll just wait till they have months worth of new programming...binge then quit. Kinda like what I"ll do with CBS once The Good Fight is in it's last month of shows.
 
Priced pretty well, at least for the first year.

Although I am holding out for the company that makes an all all in one service that combines Disney+, Hulu, Netflix and open air TV.
 
That....doesn't seem that bad at all.
So $6.99 in the US...it'll be €9.99 in Ireland...guarantee it
 
So the price is quite a bit more reasonable than I expected. I'm still not supporting this shit, but at least the pricing isn't in rape territory.
I was against it philosophically at the beginning, but now it seems like the balkanization of streaming is inevitable. Soon we'll be right back to where we started with cable, except each "channel" has its own separate login and line on your monthly bill.

To be honest I don't want to give DIsney any (more) of my money, but there is a greater than zero chance I will end up paying for this, at least temporarily, given their catalog.
 
Let's be honest if you hadn't seen all the Marvel films, that price is fantastic, sign up one month, watch all of them, unsubscribe.

I am in, with two children that love films like Frozen etc, I will get this in the UK.
 
I was against it philosophically at the beginning, but now it seems like the balkanization of streaming is inevitable. Soon we'll be right back to where we started with cable, except each "channel" has its own separate login and line on your monthly bill.

To be honest I don't want to give DIsney any (more) of my money, but there is a greater than zero chance I will end up paying for this, at least temporarily, given their catalog.
Inevitable doesn't mean I'm going to pay for it. I have enough willpower that I can confidently say they'll never see a dime from me for this service.
 
I have to admit I was planning on avoiding this but at that price point I'm pretty sure I'll sign up. Especially since they listed 4k/HDR as an option. The only other thing is it'd be nice if there was some kind of lock in price/duration. I feel pretty confident after the first year we'll start seeing price hikes similar or worse than Netflix.
 
I am 100% in on this if I can watch ALL of the Marvel and Disney Classic movies. If they try to hold back newer movies from streaming it’s a no go.

Not sure how soon you expect new releases. Obviously, they are going to be at least a few months after they are done with their theatrical run at the earliest. Like they say pay for what you are getting now and what they say you should expect. Don't pay for whats not in the language.
 
For what it's worth, though, I still call b.s. on the various people who say streaming is a cheaper solution to cable. That's only true if you only watch one or two networks. We watch disney, cbs, fox, abc, tbs, cartoon network, a few random channels, and ddd in Netflix and Prime(which we mainly have for shipping). I'm slightly interested in DC stream but still not willing to get it. Convert all of those into streaming and add up the bill and it gets close to double what I'm paying comcast for our basic package.
 
Not sure how soon you expect new releases. Obviously, they are going to be at least a few months after they are done with their theatrical run at the earliest. Like they say pay for what you are getting now and what they say you should expect. Don't pay for whats not in the language.

Totally agree with you there. Disney has historically since VHS days had some of the highest priced new releases out there. Some exceptions but not many. I'd find it hard to believe they'd walk away from that cash cow. I would expect they'd probably keep a similar timeline to what they've done with Netflix where it seems about 90 days or so after a physical release.
 
Totally agree with you there. Disney has historically since VHS days had some of the highest priced new releases out there. Some exceptions but not many. I'd find it hard to believe they'd walk away from that cash cow. I would expect they'd probably keep a similar timeline to what they've done with Netflix where it seems about 90 days or so after a physical release.

yeah i'd figure 90 days as well given the deals with have with all the cable providers to get first crack at it through ondemand since that's where i'm sure disney/fox made most of their money. at 6.99 i just don't see disney making a profit, especially since i'm sure netflix was paying out the ass to Disney and fox for their shows/movies. i suspect the 6.99 price is more of an early bird price and then it'll quickly be raised for any new customers after a certain date and then eventually force the early birds to that price after the first year.


For what it's worth, though, I still call b.s. on the various people who say streaming is a cheaper solution to cable. That's only true if you only watch one or two networks. We watch disney, cbs, fox, abc, tbs, cartoon network, a few random channels, and ddd in Netflix and Prime(which we mainly have for shipping). I'm slightly interested in DC stream but still not willing to get it. Convert all of those into streaming and add up the bill and it gets close to double what I'm paying comcast for our basic package.

it was when it was just netflix, hulu, and amazon but we all knew this would eventually happen and quite frankly it'll bite them all in the ass in the long run. it falls under the same reason why steam was popular, because everything is available under a single application.. once you start spreading it out across multiple services all you do is piss people off and you end up right back to square one and the reason why people were getting rid of cable in the first place.

CBS is already figuring this out now since their streaming service is doing horrendously bad on subscriptions.
 
Last edited:
Seems like a good price. Disney library is huge, with lots of family friendly shows (what I'm more interested in). A few things on Netflix that would be tough to give up, but combining the two and paying ~$17 per month, that'd be way more tv than I could ever watch.
 
It's probably worth mentioning that $6.99/month is going to be the let's get them hooked phase. I have no doubt that a 20%-30% hike will happen by the third year the service has been running.

Still I might subscribe for a month if the disney+ app shows up on my TV app list and can do 4KUHD just to check it out, but for the most part I buy all the films I like especially the 4K UHD.
 
I’m in. I’ll buy a year. 2 little kids will watch this non stop if I let them. Throw the app on their tablet, configure parental controls (which I hope Disney will have), and they’ll be glued to the app during their allotted screen time. Haha.

$69/yr for an easy, mostly worry free hour or two a day...yes please.
 
It's probably worth mentioning that $6.99/month is going to be the let's get them hooked phase. I have no doubt that a 20%-30% hike will happen by the third year the service has been running.

Still I might subscribe for a month if the disney+ app shows up on my TV app list and can do 4KUHD just to check it out, but for the most part I buy all the films I like especially the 4K UHD.

Bingo... $6.99 to start... give it a short time.. $7.99 .. $8.99 .. $9.99... hell.. within a very short time would be a worthy, not far fetched prediction
 
As long as the "Disney Vault" remains open, even at Netflix prices, I'll be in. Ever seen how much it is is to buy a disney movie out of distrabution? Makes the almost 30$ they ask for one in distrabution seem reasonable.

Mine are 3&5, I got at least seven years in just the dissent and Pixar hubs, let alone marvel and starwars.

The hubs thing is brilliant, long been wishing for that with Netflix.

Also Amazon, will you ever make your service easy to browse?
 
Most people probably won't care (and Disney often omits them), but I'd love access to the old Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc. cartoons from way back when.
 
I didn't see mention in the summarization how many simultaneous streams you get for that 6.99 price point. I bet the family plan is 11.99 for three streams. Any takers?
 
I would think the same thing, but the OP said in line 2: There will only one subscription tier with two ways to pay for it. Either a monthly price of $6.99 or a yearly at $69.99, so maybe 2-3 years down the road they change it?
 
It's probably worth mentioning that $6.99/month is going to be the let's get them hooked phase. I have no doubt that a 20%-30% hike will happen by the third year the service has been running.

Bingo... $6.99 to start... give it a short time.. $7.99 .. $8.99 .. $9.99... hell.. within a very short time would be a worthy, not far fetched prediction

Yep, get you and your kids hooked then jack the price up. Its crazy how much the streaming market is becoming fragmented over the last years.
 
Also Amazon, will you ever make your service easy to browse?

lol been saying that for years about amazon but i guess they really like the 90's that much to continue to refuse to update their site layout.
 
I may be in it for the simpsons. Haven't watched that in at least 10 years.
 
Not sure how soon you expect new releases. Obviously, they are going to be at least a few months after they are done with their theatrical run at the earliest. Like they say pay for what you are getting now and what they say you should expect. Don't pay for whats not in the language.

If the movie is for sale on Blu Ray, I expect it to be streamable.
 
If the movie is for sale on Blu Ray, I expect it to be streamable.

Your expectations are off the charts. Maybe keep'em in check so you are not disappointed all the time. If the movie is available to stream few months after blu-ray its more than acceptable. If they had no original content then your expectations will be in line.
 
Your expectations are off the charts. Maybe keep'em in check so you are not disappointed all the time. If the movie is available to stream few months after blu-ray its more than acceptable. If they had no original content then your expectations will be in line.

I won’t be disappointed, they just won’t get my $7/month :)
 
Bingo... $6.99 to start... give it a short time.. $7.99 .. $8.99 .. $9.99... hell.. within a very short time would be a worthy, not far fetched prediction

The cost will definitely go up over time. Though with their goal of getting 60-90m by the end of 2024 they'll have to be careful how quickly they do price increases.

I didn't see mention in the summarization how many simultaneous streams you get for that 6.99 price point. I bet the family plan is 11.99 for three streams. Any takers?

No other plans, for now. I didn't see any mention of how many streams you can have at once when looking at the announcements. Hopefully they'll reveal that before launch.
 
This is big , but suspect prices will raise within a year or two not unlike the cable cutter service.

I am looking forward to seeing the Wonderful World of Disney I watched as a kid again .. I will pay for this , but refuse to pay for CBS access ..

Kenny
 
I hope everyone realizes that the price hike will happen sooner than later....Disney is going to tease everyone in with the $6.99/month and then once they have a couple million subscribers then they are going to incrementally increase the pricing. By the time they get to 50 million subscribers the price will be the same if not more than Netflix. I am sure Netflix will be responding to the price difference soon as well.
 
Back
Top