Disney+ Disney+ Streaming Service (Official Thread) (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Adkins]

I don't see Hulu changing that much. Their niche is their current episodes of network shows.

I actually read the Deadline article eating dinner before Endgame. It doesn't shock me in the least, but I do wonder if Hulu will be a Disney-only outlet now vs. a place for me to find everything now.

I'm not sure why people are assuming it will be "Disney only". It's as if people have forgotten that when Disney purchased ABC that they continued to air product produced by other studios.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm not sure why people are assuming it will be "Disney only". It's as if people have forgotten that when Disney purchased ABC that they continued to air product produced by other studios.

They did. But the streaming landscape is different. We know that Warner Bros. and Universal are about to launch their own streaming services, and CBS already has one. The other studios who own content currently being licensed to Hulu for next-day uploads might want to redirect their shows to their own platforms at some point rather than doing business with a Hulu that's solely owned by Disney, should that ever come to pass. So it might not be entirely Disney's choice if they get to keep everything new. We'll see.

If they don''t keep that model, and Disney does become the sole owner, they could turn it into (essentially) an adult-oriented Disney+ equivilant featuring content that they don't want on their family-focused service. I think they're currently planning to put a bunch of non-family Fox content on there anyway, so that would be a natural next evolution for Hulu if their deals for next-day episodes ever dry up.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

They did. But the streaming landscape is different. We know that Warner Bros. and Universal are about to launch their own streaming services, and CBS already has one. The other studios who own content currently being licensed to Hulu for next-day uploads might want to redirect their shows to their own platforms at some point rather than doing business with a Hulu that's solely owned by Disney, should that ever come to pass. So it might not be entirely Disney's choice if they get to keep everything new. We'll see.

OK, so I guess my next question is.......does Universal sell any television series to other networks or does it all go to NBC? Do CBS or NBC air anything distributed by Buena Vista television? I honestly don't know the answers to how all of that works and am not sure how I could find this out without going through each individual show on IMDB.

 

[Jake Lipson]

OK, so I guess my next question is.......does Universal sell any television series to other networks or does it all go to NBC? Do CBS or NBC air anything distributed by Buena Vista television?

The networks and studios are not categorically opposed to airing content from other providers. However, they do often work with their own sister companies.

All of this is strictly theoretical of course. I agree with you that I don't see Hulu changing its model drastically in the short term, but they might have to once every studio has their own platform and if Disney becomes the sole owner (which is very much an "if" right now.) Or maybe the other studios will value the eyeballs Hulu gives them and decide to keep cooperating. There's no way to know until it happens.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

The networks and studios are not categorically opposed to airing content from other providers. However, they do often work with their own sister companies.

All of this is strictly theoretical of course. I agree with you that I don't see Hulu changing its model drastically in the short term, but they might have to once every studio has their own platform and if Disney becomes the sole owner (which is very much an "if" right now.) Or maybe the other studios will value the eyeballs Hulu gives them and decide to keep cooperating. There's no way to know until it happens.

It'll be interesting to see just how many of these services the general public will buy before they reach their tipping point. I honestly thought CBS All-Access was going to struggle because of lack of content, but apparently they reached their subscriber goal two years earlier than projected.

Thankfully none of this happened with the music industry. I can only imagine the mess there would be if the individual music labels had their own streaming services.

 

[Jason_V]

I'm not sure why people are assuming it will be "Disney only". It's as if people have forgotten that when Disney purchased ABC that they continued to air product produced by other studios.

So here's the thing. In the original, old ownership of Hulu, several companies had ownership and it was to their benefit to have their programs there. CBS library content left and then CW pulled all their shows and put them on Netflix (remember that?) exclusively. Now, with The Walt Disney Company owning all of Hulu and everyone and their brother coming with streaming service, why would Warner or Comcast keep their programs on a Disney owned and operated service? It doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

The ABC-broadcast shows I have no doubt will stay regardless of which outside studio they come from.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

So here's the thing. In the original, old ownership of Hulu, several companies had ownership and it was to their benefit to have their programs there. CBS library content left and then CW pulled all their shows and put them on Netflix (remember that?) exclusively. Now, with The Walt Disney Company owning all of Hulu and everyone and their brother coming with streaming service, why would Warner or Comcast keep their programs on a Disney owned and operated service? It doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

The ABC-broadcast shows I have no doubt will stay regardless of which outside studio they come from.

I agree that some of the studios will pull some content from Hulu once they start their own. What I'm saying is that I don't think Disney will pull content they don't own simply because they don't own it. I was just disagreeing with comments suggesting that Hulu will become a service that will only carry Disney-owned content.

 

[Jason_V]

Oh, I don't think Disney will pull it. I think the other networks/studios will pull their own content, effectively making Hulu a Disney/Fox-only service.

 

[John*Wells]

I actually read the Deadline article eating dinner before Endgame. It doesn't shock me in the least, but I do wonder if Hulu will be a Disney-only outlet now vs. a place for me to find everything now.

I'll Cancel if that happens

 

[Cranston37+]

Ron Howard in talks to do a "Willow" sequel series for Disney+ with Warwick Davis...

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/ron-howard-willow-disney-series-1203202706/

 

[Sam Posten]

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/8/1...s-stream-exclusively-december-11-release-date

 

[Cranston37+]

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/8/1...s-stream-exclusively-december-11-release-date

This is of interest because it appears to tell us that there will be a delay between digital/physical release and Disney+ release, which is not unexpected and doesn't bother me...

 

[Malcolm R]

Yeah, I don't see anything too surprising there. It's only logical that they'd use one of the biggest movies ever to launch their streaming service. I presume it will first be available to buy digitally, followed a couple weeks later by the physical discs, then on streaming in Dec.

Though I am a bit surprised they don't hold the streaming premiere until January at least, to try and capitalize on purchases of the film as gifts prior to Christmas.

Imagine Grandma buying little Kevin the disc of Endgame, and when he opens it exclaims, "But I already watched this on Disney+ a week ago!"

 

[Jake Lipson]

Though I am a bit surprised they don't hold the streaming premiere until January at least, to try and capitalize on purchases of the film as gifts prior to Christmas.

Yeah, I agree with you, although I guess they are prioritizing getting people to sign up for Disney+ over buying the disc. At least maybe the disc will have some bonus features that don't get included on Disney+ for little Kevin to watch? Or maybe Disney+ will include those too and truly be a death blow to single-title ownership. Dunno.

Disney used the same weekend this year to bow Endgame theatrically as they did Infinity War last year. If Disney chooses to follow the exact same theater-to-video window Infinity War had, the digital release would be Tuesday, July 30 and the disc would be Tuesday, August 13.

Infinity War arrived on its (current) streaming platform, Netflix, on Christmas, so December 11 would actually be a little bit sooner for Disney+ to get it than Netflix did.

 

[Robert Crawford]

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/8/1...s-stream-exclusively-december-11-release-date

This article talks a little more about unnamed titles that Disney is negotiating to stream on Disney+ that were slated for other services. Most definitely some Marvel titles that they're trying to buy back for streaming on Disney+.

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/marvel-studios-avengers-endgame-streaming-on-disney-on-dec-11/

 

[Chris Will]

Well, Endgame was never going to be a day-and-date release since Disney+ doesn’t launch until November 12. I think this is a huge hint that Disney will be pushing this service during the holidays much more than physical media.

 

[Cranston37+]

Well, Endgame was never going to be a day-and-date release since Disney+ doesn’t launch until November 12. I think this is a huge hint that Disney will be pushing this service during the holidays much more than physical media.

I don't think anybody here thought it would be released day and date with physical/digital, but we DID think it could have been released with the start of the service Nov 12th as Captain Marvel will be.

So this news confirms for us that they do plan on having a gap between sell-thru and Disney+, which is something we didn't know before...

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Even just considering digital, they can make more money on digital rentals and ‘sales’ first.

 

[Tino]

Trying to confirm 4K availability on the service. Anyone have a direct link? Or are we just assuming?

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Trying to confirm 4K availability on the service. Anyone have a direct link? Or are we just assuming?

It was confirmed in the Investors Day Presentation webcast. I'll try and find the exact quote, but essentially it was something along the lines of "all will be in 4K where we have 4K masters available".