Disney pulling all content from Netflix, launching own streaming service

[lockedoutlogic]

Oh, I have no idea! I'm just guessing the same price as Netflix for Disney. Even if it's $20, it's still way less than cable.

"I wish you good fortunes in the Wars to come..."

(Sorry...that's a game of thrones reference...it take my pulse 3 hours to slow after an episode.

The point is that what the last 30 years has taught us is there are no "cheap" telecoms options...if the market shifts...then whoever is in control overcharges..it's 99 1/2 % guaranteed)

 

[jknezek]

"I wish you good fortunes in the Wars to come..."

(Sorry...that's a game of thrones reference...it take my pulse 3 hours to slow after an episode.

The point is that what the last 30 years has taught us is there are no "cheap" telecoms options...if the market shifts...then whoever is in control overcharges..it's 99 1/2 % guaranteed)

Netflix has been cheap for years. The current crop of over the internet providers are relatively cheap. Not that I expect them to stay that way, but Netflix has managed to do it for quite a while. We will see how long it lasts.

 

[adelaster]

Disney can't afford Netflix.

Thank goodness!

 

[adelaster]

Such a potential, but....paying for yet another subscription service.....hmmmm

There's ways they could make me consider:

1. What else are you throwing in?
2. How low the price vs. value
3. Are the classic movies mainstays on there?
4. Is it like Apple Music where EVERYTHING I want is on there? So it saves me $?

Yeah, there's a lot of variables here. We have netflix & hulu, no ads. SO worth it to me-plenty to watch, fairly easy to sort/search, and avoiding ads is huge. I am really skeptical that Disney will build a service at a price or value that makes it worth it. I have all of Henson's stuff hardcopy if necessary, and with the ability to rent most movies for around $3 when desired it doesn't make a lot of sense to subscribe to a monthly service that might be all b-roll disney films or those frighteningly overacted children's shows they air on tv. If it was the entire catalog on demand (including Henson) with no ads I would definitely consider around $10/month- but honestly I don't watch that much Disney content to really make it worth it. Renting and a digital purchase or two will be hard to top. Plus Disney has maybe the worst IT department ever, so who knows! Even at $8 monthly that would be about 30 one time rentals of many Disney films, when I really only average around 10 a year most likely. I watch more than I would because they are on Netflix, but if they weren't there I don't think I would hunt them down overmuch.

 

[jkh36619]

At the end of the day, Comcast and ATT are going to get theirs because they own the delivery system. Just like when you buy something on ebay for .99 then pay $5 in shipping. They are the shipping.

 

[adam.adbe]

At the end of the day, Comcast and ATT are going to get theirs because they own the delivery system. Just like when you buy something on ebay for .99 then pay $5 in shipping. They are the shipping.

Yeah, this idea that a few subscription services will be cheaper than a cable account only holds for as long as Comcast/ATT don't price Internet-only plans out of the game, which they will.

 

[tjkraz]

Yeah, this idea that a few subscription services will be cheaper than a cable account only holds for as long as Comcast/ATT don't price Internet-only plans out of the game, which they will.

In some cases they already have. Unsurprisingly. One of my oldest cord-cutter friends recently re-upped with cable because it was cheaper to have Internet+cable than just internet alone. If cord cutters force cable providers to offer more affordable TV rates, good for everyone.

In many areas, competition will help keep rates somewhat in check. We have no less than 4 Internet options in our area, from 10 Mbps DSL service up to 100+ Mbps cable. Many consumers hurt themselves by thinking they need gigabit Internet in order to have a good experience.

A single hi-def stream only uses around 3.5-5 Mbps sustained. Some services like Netflix have quality settings which allow you to dial-down the usage as needed. My teens have Netflix on their phones but it's set to their lowest quality which is under 1 Mbps.

I cut the cord earlier this year with home service that topped out at 15 Mbps. Even with 3 streams running simultaneously, along with web browsing, Facebook and other day-to-day uses, the only time we ran into problems was if the Xbox/Playstation started downloading a large file and sucked up all the bandwidth. (A problem that's manageable with router QOS settings.)

Since then our ISP has doubled speeds so we're quite comfortable at 30 Mbps with no data cap. We have neighbors on 10 Meg DSL who have no issues streaming Netflix, etc.

Slower speeds like that may struggle with 4K, but that's a luxury and folks will have to decide if it's worth paying for.

 

[tjkraz]

Yeah, there's a lot of variables here. We have netflix & hulu, no ads. SO worth it to me-plenty to watch, fairly easy to sort/search, and avoiding ads is huge. I am really skeptical that Disney will build a service at a price or value that makes it worth it. I have all of Henson's stuff hardcopy if necessary, and with the ability to rent most movies for around $3 when desired it doesn't make a lot of sense to subscribe to a monthly service that might be all b-roll disney films or those frighteningly overacted children's shows they air on tv. If it was the entire catalog on demand (including Henson) with no ads I would definitely consider around $10/month- but honestly I don't watch that much Disney content to really make it worth it. Renting and a digital purchase or two will be hard to top. Plus Disney has maybe the worst IT department ever, so who knows! Even at $8 monthly that would be about 30 one time rentals of many Disney films, when I really only average around 10 a year most likely. I watch more than I would because they are on Netflix, but if they weren't there I don't think I would hunt them down overmuch.

If you have a shelf full of Henson DVDs, you're probably not in the target market for a Disney streaming service. IMO, the target profile probably falls along these lines:

- Adults in 20s / 30s
- Kids age 1-13
- Never had cable/sat, or cut the cord long ago
- Do not have large DVD or blu ray library

These are the people who were raised on Disney (parks, clothing, stuffed animals, etc.) and view it as something worthwhile to share with their kids. But they don't have cable, thus limited access to Disney Channel and every other network that would show Disney films. And they haven't bothered to invest in discs at $20 each.

In my opinion, there are plenty of people who fit this profile that would be willing to pay $8-10 per month for access to a huge library of Disney content. And the market will only grow as today's teens start their own families, all with a 21st century attitude toward media consumption.

Disney has been running a service like this in the UK for some time now, so I assume they have some idea of what consumer response to expect.

Lastly regarding the dig at Disney IT, it's streaming services are run by MLB Advance Media which is a complete separate entity from any other Disney operations. Disney was previously 1/3 owner of MLBAM and is in the process of purchasing a majority share. MLBAM runs streaming operations for Major League Baseball, ESPN, PGA, NHL, HBO and many others. They are a well-regarded leader in the field.

 

[muenginerd]

I've only skimmed through the discussions, so forgive me if this has been answered.

The press release talked about their movies, but what about all their shows? We don't care much about the movies since we buy most of them anyways. But I have two toddlers at home and we keep Sling primarily for Disney and Disney Jr for them. They love Sofia, Doc, Mickey Mouse, Jake, Miles, and more. Our youngest daughter LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and that hasn't come to Netflix yet. Now if you're telling me Disney's new app will cover all these show and regularly update with new episodes, we would buy in in a heartbeat. Probably canceling Sling TV and trading it for Disney's app.

 

[muenginerd]

The other thing, we watch movies on Netflix more out of convenience than anything. We're already browsing through Netflix and our kids see something they like.

Another Disney streaming movie service doesn't have a ton of appeal to it unless they load it down with a lot. Really reach deep into your catalogs. Just movies isn't going to cut it. I take our kids to the local library and any Disney movie that is in distribution is available pretty regularly to borrow free of charge. We just loaded up on quite a few for a road trip. Granted that isn't brand new releases, but those become pretty readily available after a couple of months.

 

[randumb0]

With so many different streaming services it makes it almost not worth it

 

[adelaster]

If you have a shelf full of Henson DVDs, you're probably not in the target market for a Disney streaming service. IMO, the target profile probably falls along these lines:

- Adults in 20s / 30s
- Kids age 1-13
- Never had cable/sat, or cut the cord long ago
- Do not have large DVD or blu ray library

These are the people who were raised on Disney (parks, clothing, stuffed animals, etc.) and view it as something worthwhile to share with their kids. But they don't have cable, thus limited access to Disney Channel and every other network that would show Disney films. And they haven't bothered to invest in discs at $20 each.

In my opinion, there are plenty of people who fit this profile that would be willing to pay $8-10 per month for access to a huge library of Disney content. And the market will only grow as today's teens start their own families, all with a 21st century attitude toward media consumption.

Disney has been running a service like this in the UK for some time now, so I assume they have some idea of what consumer response to expect.

Lastly regarding the dig at Disney IT, it's streaming services are run by MLB Advance Media which is a complete separate entity from any other Disney operations. Disney was previously 1/3 owner of MLBAM and is in the process of purchasing a majority share. MLBAM runs streaming operations for Major League Baseball, ESPN, PGA, NHL, HBO and many others. They are a well-regarded leader in the field.

Well, I own a few comprehensive/collector sets and some criterion, but I don't really have any other items. The Henson stuff is hard to get sometimes (storyteller, etc.) so I keep it. I have maybe 30 discs all told, the entirety of which fits in a box about shoebox dimensions. I honestly can't remember the last time I purchased hardcopy visual media.

Never had cable, and fall into your target age group-but no children. When we want to watch something we stream it 99.9% of the time, and have done so for the last nine+ years.

I don't do sports (or HBO, which I think is a cable channel?) so your info is interesting. Respectfully disagree with you though. It is my *opinion* that their IT is terrible, but that is my personal and limited experience bulwarked by others I have talked to & the articles I've read.

Never said there won't be plenty of rich folks with disposable income or who use media for their kids who won't support it- I was simply replying to someone else.

 

[tjkraz]

I don't do sports (or HBO, which I think is a cable channel?) so your info is interesting. Respectfully disagree with you though. It is my *opinion* that their IT is terrible, but that is my personal and limited experience bulwarked by others I have talked to & the articles I've read.

Point being that The Walt Disney Company has 200,000 employees working for different business units around the world. There is no "their IT" which applies to the organization from top to bottom. Just because MagicBands are known to fail and room ready text messages often don't arrive doesn't mean that MLBAM/BAMTech is incapable of providing reliable streaming services.

 

[adelaster]

Point being that The Walt Disney Company has 200,000 employees working for different business units around the world. There is no "their IT" which applies to the organization from top to bottom. Just because MagicBands are known to fail and room ready text messages often don't arrive doesn't mean that MLBAM/BAMTech is incapable of providing reliable streaming services.

& I hope yr right

 

[jknezek]

Speculation over the Bloomberg this morning that the Disney service will cost about $10 a month for more or less what they are giving to Netflix sans Marvel and Star Wars. Given everything else you get with Netflix for that same $10 a month, I have no idea why people would subscribe to this. In my opinion Disney is going to have to sweeten this deal to reach the 2 million subscribers they need, at that price, to break even with the Netflix payments. Of course, that includes selling Marvel and SW separate to earn the extra $100million to match the overall $300 million Netflix was paying.

 

[tjkraz]

Given everything else you get with Netflix for that same $10 a month, I have no idea why people would subscribe to this.

It's more about what you WON'T get from Netflix. I think you're underestimating the value of this programming. There are three TV networks dedicated to Disney kids programming: Disney Jr, Disney Channel and Disney XD. There are kid-friendly alternatives on everything from PBS to library DVDs but many parents seem to be favoring the Disney offerings.

With Disney content gone from Netflix, there will be 3 options for viewing this programming:

- Full-blown cable or satellite subscription
- Buy DVDs or digital by the film / season
- $10 per month for unlimited access

Will Netflix have an overall higher volume of content? Of course! But without Disney, they highlights of their kid-friendly programming is Voltron and Magic School Bus.

I can't predict what sort of response Disney will get, but it seems crazy to imply that there will be zero interest in a monthly service which costs as much as a couple trips to Starbucks.

 

[jknezek]

I can't predict what sort of response Disney will get, but it seems crazy to imply that there will be zero interest in a monthly service which costs as much as a couple trips to Starbucks.

Oh there will be interest. I have no doubt. But they need 2 million subscribers to make this break even with what they were getting from Netflix. We will see, but even with 3 kids, 5, 5, and 7, I'm the prime person to shell out those $10 and I certainly don't see the value. Especially with Rebels coming to an end.

 

[dlavender]

It's more about what you WON'T get from Netflix. I think you're underestimating the value of this programming. There are three TV networks dedicated to Disney kids programming: Disney Jr, Disney Channel and Disney XD. There are kid-friendly alternatives on everything from PBS to library DVDs but many parents seem to be favoring the Disney offerings.

With Disney content gone from Netflix, there will be 3 options for viewing this programming:

- Full-blown cable or satellite subscription
- Buy DVDs or digital by the film / season
- $10 per month for unlimited access

Will Netflix have an overall higher volume of content? Of course! But without Disney, they highlights of their kid-friendly programming is Voltron and Magic School Bus.

I can't predict what sort of response Disney will get, but it seems crazy to imply that there will be zero interest in a monthly service which costs as much as a couple trips to Starbucks.

Or the 4th option, don't view at all.

 

[tjkraz]

Or the 4th option, don't view at all.

Nobody is forcing it. It's only going to take 2-3% of US households to make a streaming service successful.

Everyone has their own priorities for spending entertainment dollars. For what it costs to take a family of 4 to see a single movie in the theater, you could pay for 6 months of this service. Options.

 

[Micca]

Given everything else you get with Netflix for that same $10 a month, I have no idea why people would subscribe to this

Someone may have mentioned this up-thread but I saw something on line about the possibility of the streaming service including same-day streaming for new Disney movie releases. If a family of four spends $40-$50 per movie to go to a theater you'd have covered your annual fee (at $10 a month) after 2-3 movies.