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Disney+ Disney+ Streaming Service (Official Thread) (4 Viewers)

DaveF

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The Disney deal must postdate when I looked last for big movies. And seeing there weren't any, I've not bothered looking for movies on Netflix again.

But I've got it for Jessica Jones and for my wife to watch Gilmore Girls. :)
 

Josh Steinberg

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Still, this has been one of my long-standing problems with streaming: the movies can be pulled at any time for any reason. And there isn't a think the consumer can do about it. If you have the disc on the shelf, no one (short of theft) is going to take it away from you.

I think it's important to recognize that there are two types of streaming.

Netflix streaming is more equivalent to a monthly HBO subscription back when cable ruled everything. You get some premium movies, some original shows, and some less-than-premium titles, and the same things play on repeat for a while, and then everything changes. I don't think Netflix ever had a goal of making every title ever released available all the time, but I think the perception among a lot of subscribers was that that was the goal. Netflix is where you go if you want to have access to a changing selections of titles to browse through and explore, but aren't set on seeing specific titles at specific times.

The other kind of streaming is where you purchase a title, like through Vudu or iTunes. In theory, those purchases should remain no matter what. Of course, the only two instances that I'm aware of where purchases were forcibly removed from people's accounts were Disney films, so Disney is the one studio where I'm very skeptical of making a digital purchase. But I have no trouble with individual rentals, and Vudu and iTunes provide significantly larger rental libraries than what Netflix offers. Vudu and iTunes are where you go when you have a specific title that you want to see at a specific time.
 

Jason_V

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I get all that...but that's exactly the thing. Either way, the consumer is at the mercy of the provider.

In the first instance, Moana (for example) is on Netflix until it expires and then it's gone. If you don't keep up on what is and is not on the service, you're likely to say "it has to be there" and be disappointed when it's not. Whereas if it's on your shelf as a physical copy or something you downloaded and store on your equipment, it will always be there.

In the second, you're purchasing something that you can't hold. In theory, those purchases are always available. In practice, how many of us actually are trusting enough of the companies not to pull a switch-er-oo at some point? You've identified two Disney instances of this happening already.

If you want to rent a title, I'm not opposed. I use Redbox about once a month and take full advantage of Netflix and Hulu. But I have a very hard time trusting most people or entities to abide by their own rules. I'm also not opposed to using Netflix/Hulu/whatever. What I am opposed to is everyone having their own service which don't talk to one another.
 

Josh Steinberg

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If you want to rent a title, I'm not opposed. I use Redbox about once a month and take full advantage of Netflix and Hulu. But I have a very hard time trusting most people or entities to abide by their own rules. I'm also not opposed to using Netflix/Hulu/whatever. What I am opposed to is everyone having their own service which don't talk to one another.

That last part I completely agree with.

I'm not saying you're doing this, but I've run into a bunch of people who seem genuinely surprised and exasperated when they discover that things don't stay on Netflix forever. There are some people who expect Netflix to carry everything that they want, and expect that if they watched something once on Netflix, they should have the opportunity to see it on the service whenever they want. I can try to explain that Netflix isn't a video store , it's a curated subscription service, that it's pretty much a copy of HBO for the 21st century. But it's impossible to divorce some people from the expectation that if the service once carried a title, it must always carry a title.

I never hesitate to rent a stream but I am a little wary of purchasing them. I suppose if I absolutely had to make a purchase, for a title that wasn't available on disc, was never coming to disc, and something I knew I'd want to watch again and again, I'd probably buy it from iTunes. (Although Vudu in theory allows you to download purchases, in practice I find the iTunes download to be easier to use.) Even if iTunes discontinued carrying it (as they did with the extended version of Bedknobs & Broomsticks) the downloaded file should still play.

I think Disney could pull in a lot of subscriptions if they could do what Netflix doesn't try to do, and build up a permanent library of all of their titles. For me to be interested, as well as I suspect a lot of enthusiasts, it needs to be more than just their most popular titles like The Avengers, The Force Awakens and Beauty And The Beast, titles that pretty much everyone who wants to own them does. If they had everything, including all of their TV shows, all of their rarities, they could probably blow every other niche service out of the water. I don't know how many people subscribe to that service that's run by TCM and Criterion, or how many people subscribe to the Warner Archives streaming service. I think a Disney service that offered more than just the same 10 or 20 titles that they constantly reissue could have real value for a lot of people.
 

Cranston37+

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Keep in mind guys that this has been out in Europe for the past 2 years and they wouldn't be launching it here if people there weren't using it and liking it. Remember it also includes Disney books and music, so it's a much different product than just another streaming service. I could see parents loving this thing as a one stop shop for their kids' entertainment...
 
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DaveF

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can try to explain that Netflix isn't a video store , it's a curated subscription service
Curated?

Netflix is everything they can license at whatever they deem affordable.

As a casual observer, it seems Netflix wanted to be the "everything" store. But they are victims of their own success and media owners are hiking rates or refusing to license to them.

Which is not "curation" by Netflix anymore than I haven't "curated" my garage to not have a Ferrari :)
 

Josh Steinberg

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Curated?

Netflix is everything they can license at whatever they deem affordable.

As a casual observer, it seems Netflix wanted to be the "everything" store. But they are victims of their own success and media owners are hiking rates or refusing to license to them.

Which is not "curation" by Netflix anymore than I haven't "curated" my garage to not have a Ferrari :)

I would argue that the Netflix service is similar to linear HBO before the digital era... a selection of movies, some of them popular and desirable new and classic titles, some crap, and original programming produced at a premium cable level. Maybe "curated" is too fancy a word, but I genuinely do not believe it's Netflix's goal to be an iTunes or Vudu-like service that carries everything. I think they want to be to internet streaming services in the 2010s what HBO was to cable in the late 90s/00s.
 

Joseph Bolus

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I really believe that the Disney streaming service will be a resounding success. This is assuming that all Disney classic movies (including “Song of the South”) are always available as well as every episode of TV rarities such as “Walt Disney Presents” and “Zorro” (just to name two of many). There are also tons of live action movies which have not seen Blu-ray releases (such as “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”) which would presumably be available in HD.

Throw in original programming — such as the long rumored live action Star Wars series — and the service could be irresistible.

The ESPN streaming channel should also be popular among cord cutters.

By 2020 I can envision most consumers just subscribing to a high speed internet service with subscriptions to Netflix/Hulu , Disney, ESPN, and Amazon Prime. I doubt there will be room for much else.
 

Jason_V

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^ HBO, Starz, the possibly in development Fox, YouTube, the CW, CBS All Access...and the dozen or so I'm forgetting.

I can't believe they're all going away. They'll find their own niches and be "successful" in their own way.
 

RolandL

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I really believe that the Disney streaming service will be a resounding success. This is assuming that all Disney classic movies (including “Song of the South”) are always available as well as every episode of TV rarities such as “Walt Disney Presents” and “Zorro” (just to name two of many). There are also tons of live action movies which have not seen Blu-ray releases (such as “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”) which would presumably be available in HD.

Throw in original programming — such as the long rumored live action Star Wars series — and the service could be irresistible.

The ESPN streaming channel should also be popular among cord cutters.

By 2020 I can envision most consumers just subscribing to a high speed internet service with subscriptions to Netflix/Hulu , Disney, ESPN, and Amazon Prime. I doubt there will be room for much else.

Add to your list:
  • 3D shorts (restored by 3D Film Archive of course!):
    • Working for Peanuts
    • Melody
    • 3D Jamboree
    • Magic Journey's
    • Captain Eo
    • Muppet*vision 3-D
    • Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
    • Mickey's Philharmagic
    • It's Tough to be a Bug
    • Star Tours: The Adventure Continue
  • Shorts and features that were released on the Walt Disney Treasures sets (but now in HD)
  • ABC movies they recently acquired. If title was a roadshow, then the complete film with original sound.
Then I would subscribe. Otherwise forget it.
 

Ron1973

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Here's an issue for me: I watched The Parent Trap on Netflix a while back, the original, and it was the dreaded pan and scan. If I want pan and scan, I'll go to Goodwill and buy a VHS tape for 50¢. I get that Netflix shows what's given to them, but it's still disappointing. If Disney does give us the classics via their streaming service, will they be original or pan and scan?
 

Cranston37+

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Here's an issue for me: I watched The Parent Trap on Netflix a while back, the original, and it was the dreaded pan and scan. If I want pan and scan, I'll go to Goodwill and buy a VHS tape for 50¢. I get that Netflix shows what's given to them, but it's still disappointing. If Disney does give us the classics via their streaming service, will they be original or pan and scan?

Looks to be in it's correct aspect ratio on Netflix to me...
 

Ron1973

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Looks to be in it's correct aspect ratio on Netflix to me...
I'll check my settings then. YouTube and Hulu both are correct on their aspect ratio on anything I watch, so I assumed Netflix had boogered up something.
 

justarandomstan

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Ever since the announcement I've struggled to actually understand what the big fuss is all about.

Disney's content on Netflix is VERY LIMITED compared to the overall content availability. Sure it would be nice to get the new Pixar & Disney movies, BUT honestly, it's not that big of a loss.
The Marvel TV content is staying, Netflix is producing it alongside Marvel/Disney.
The two companies are also discussing a deal for the Marvel + Lucasfilm film content to remain, so that's cool, right?
The content would remain on Netflix until the end of 2019.

People are making a big deal out of nothing, really.
 

Jake Lipson

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Deadline is reporting new details of content being developed for the streaming service. As I thought and said previously in other threads, it looks like they're keeping it family-friendly and not doing R-rated content on the service.

http://deadline.com/2018/02/disney-streaming-service-launch-slate-star-wars-marvel-1202281846/

What grabbed my attention most of all is the mention of Lady and the Tramp in movie development. While it is not really that surprising that they would eventually move to remake that, the fact that it is being developed for the streaming service, rather than as a part of Disney's theatrical release slate, is very much a shock. Same with Sword in the Stone, although we had at least heard of that project before. This is the first time I've heard anything about Lady and the Tramp being in line for a redo.

Magic Camp, which is mentioned in the article, was previously dated for release this April as a theatrical release before being pulled from the calendar. If it doesn't come out until a fall 2019 launch of the streaming service, that is certainly a major delay and raises questions about the quality of the film.
 

Mike Frezon

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Here's a new article on the topic from The Atlantic:

Some interesting stats within:

But the cable business is floundering. Nearly half of adults ages 22 to 45 didn’t watch any broadcast or cable TV in 2017, according to a study by the marketing agency Hearts & Science, and the number of so-called cord cutters abandoning cable is growing by the year. This is troubling news for ESPN, whose daily viewership has declined more than 10 percent since 2011. It’s nearly as troubling for Disney, which makes more money from television than from its movies or amusement parks.

The U.S. film business, meanwhile, has arguably been in slow-motion decline since Dwight Eisenhower’s administration. The typical American bought more than 20 movie tickets a year in the early 1940s, a period in which Disney pumped out Fantasia, Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Bambi in three consecutive years. But ticket sales plunged after the rise of television in the ’50s, and they’re still falling: The typical American bought fewer movie tickets in 2017 than in any year during the previous two decades. Among the key demographic of 18-to-24-year-olds, North American movie-theater attendance has declined 17 percent since 2012, a sign of more bad news to come for Disney.

That is, if it sticks to its traditional ways of making money. Americans aren’t watching less video entertainment each year. They’re actually watching much, much more—on their smartphones, laptops, and internet-connected TVs—thanks to the rise of streaming, where Netflix, not Disney, reigns supreme. It might seem confounding that Netflix’s market value is about 90 percent of Disney’s, considering that Disney does many things profitably while Netflix has one specialty, internet video, and hardly makes a dime on it. But investors and young people agree: The future of entertainment will be streamed.
 

Garysb

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Disney is ending its vault program, giving Disney+ a huge boost in the streaming wars

Exclusivity and availability is a tremendous advantage

Disney+, the company’s upcoming streaming service, will carry Disney’s entire catalog of animated films, ending Disney’s long-standing “vault” program. CEO Bob Iger told shareholders today that Disney+ “at some point fairly soon after launch” will carry films that “traditionally have been kept in a ‘vault’ and brought out basically every few years.”

That’s a major policy change for the company, which, until now, has deliberately created artificial shortages of its films via extremely limited re-releases. For example, a movie like 101 Dalmatians would have been available to purchase during its initial home release run before being placed in “the vault” for a lengthy period. Disney initiated the practice as a way to control its own market and drive up demand whenever it did release a new edition of an old classic. But the policy has led to frustrated customers, who often have to pay a high premium for used Blu-rays or DVDs of the films that aren’t available at any given moment. The tradition carried through to Disney’s digital distribution platforms, too. For instance, even with Disney’s live-action Aladdin coming soon, the animated film is unavailable for streaming or digital purchase.

Disney currently cycles 34 movies in and out of the vault, ranging from the company’s most popular films, like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, to direct-to-video sequels like Bambi II and The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. Although 34 movies may not seem like enough to sway uncertain subscribers who are potentially already shelling out $10 a month on a Netflix subscription and additional dollars on other streaming services, it’s a pretty big deal for Disney fans who don’t already own the complete library.

Disney’s multigenerational brand recognition is a key proponent in its business strategy. The company’s library of films, both live-action and animated, is almost unmatchable by rival streaming services. While Netflix and Hulu are creating original content, they’re too new to have titles with the weight of Disney history. Meanwhile, AT&T is gearing up to launch its own streaming service through WarnerMedia, relying heavily on HBO’s content backlog, which could also be a major selling point. But that content may not be exclusive to WarnerMedia. It could still be licensed to other services, like Amazon Video.
 
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