What do we know about Disney’s streaming service?
Disney is set to take on the might of Netflix and Amazon with a new streaming service – Disney Plus – which it announced last night at its California headquarters in Burbank.
Here are six things we know about the new offering from the mouse-branded entertainment behemoth.
1) It launches in North America in November but the rest of us will have to wait
The service will be available in North America from November at $6.99 (£5.35) a month, or $69.99 a year. However, it may take longer to become available in the rest of the world due to rights reasons. Disney has not released a firm date yet but the expectation is it will be rolled out in Western Europe in the first half of 2020.
Read more: Disney closes $71bn takeover of 21st Century Fox
2) There will be Star Wars
The new service will offer some of Disney’s major franchises including Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel and National Geographic.
3) There will also be Simpsons
Disney’s recent $70bn takeover of 20th Century Fox means that it will be able to offer Fox content, including the first 30 series of iconic cartoon The Simpsons.
Read more: Disney's CEO Robert Iger earns stock award worth $149.6m in 2018
4) It will be available on Apple
Despite Apple’s plans to launch a rival streaming service, Disney Plus will be available on Apple TV.
5) There will be Disney films… but you may have to wait for the big ones
While Netflix has poured money into Netflix Original’s content that launches directly on the streaming site, Disney’s model is still based on releasing films in the cinema and then flogging Blu-ray discs. Its biggest films therefore may take time to appear on the streaming site. It has promised original spin-off content and also straight-to-streaming movies, but these are not likely to include its biggest blockbusters.
Read more: Mary Poppins Returns review: Disney hits gold with crowd-pleasing sequel
6) There will be lots of content from the start
The company said it will include more than 35 original series and 10 original films and specials and will licence 7,500 episodes of TV shows. By its fifth year it said it plans to have at least 50 original series, 10 original firms and series, and 10,000 licensed TV episodes.