It’s been a big week for future plans at Disney, with several upcoming changes to their streaming services announced. As streamers jockey to keep subscribers interested and reach coveted profitability amidst a soft economy, we’re seeing a range of tactics tried. Brandon Blake, our expert entertainment lawyer Los Angeles from Blake & Wang P.A, takes a look at Disney’s new streaming plans.
The Wall Street Pressures
While this may be fiscal quarter three for Disney, rather than the A2 announcements we’re seeing elsewhere, the same themes resonate. Wall Street is over subscriber growth, and wants to see profitability over all. Disney were able to deliver, with narrowed streaming losses. But the pressure to do more remains. For most, that means higher subscription prices, boosted ad options, or reaching more markets. In Disney’s case, it has opted for all three.
Changes to Disney Streaming
Firstly, we see price hikes announced for the ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu. No surprises there, and a theme we will no doubt see echoed elsewhere this year. With their recently-launched ad-supported offering gaining traction, we see no price hike for those bundles. With 40% of new consumers choosing these options, that’s wise indeed. However, the ad-supported tier will now be rolling out to Canada, the UK, and several Euro markets from 1 November.
Possibly echoing sentiments from Paramount+ CEO, Bob Bakish, Disney also announced a future bundling for Hulu and Disney products ‘later this year’. Less risk for them, or course, given both are managed in-house. But an interesting echo of a growing trend we’ve seen that may well be a key part of the future of streaming services. As part of that, we can expect a crossover of Hulu properties onto the Disney+ service, echoing another trend that is becoming commonplace in the streaming market.
Overall, it seems we are finally out of the growth-over-all phase of the streaming boom, and heading into a climate where experimentation, consolidation and smart use of existing assets is taking the lead. It will be intriguing to see what wins with consumers.
