Digital Powerhouse of The Mouse

You know, people spend a lot of time at work talking about what they watched the night before on their favorite video streaming service. But what they don’t do is talk much about is how the digital video streaming services out there are really changing the media and entertainment landscape of our digital world.

And then there are events that really put a fine point on that last observation.

Like what you ask?

Well, this past Tuesday (11/12/2019) Disney+, the newest and probably most hyped video/movie/TV streaming service from the “House of The Mouse” just launched what it hopes to be a serious market‐disruptor!

My little digital batkid was very happy when we signed up for Disney+, and so was Disney!

Here’s why:

• Disney bought Fox for $60B, that’s BILLION with a B! All of their content will now go onto Disney+.
• Disney spent $2.5B on an ESPN service to stream major sports to customers like the MLB.
• Disney spent $4B on Star Wars (i.e. Lucasfilm) and wants to recoup every bit of that both with new Star Wars theatrical films and exclusive Star Wars original streaming programs like The Mandalorian.
• Disney+ will feature over 500 films from the Disney library, and over 7000 episodes of Disney TV shows.
• Disney+ will cost on $7 a month compared to $13 for Netflix’s base program.
• Disney has invested over $2B in developing its video streaming platform, Disney+, while Apple is playing catchup investing nearly $15B for AppleTV+.
• Disney plans on having over 20 million subscribers in its first 3 – 5 years. Netflix currently has over 140 million subscribers! Disney wants some of that lucrative market share.
• HBO GO/NOW will be rebranded into HBO MAX with a planned subscriber fee almost twice that of Disney+! Yet, it boasts such powerful and popular content as Game of Thrones, all seven seasons of Pretty Little Liars, and the Warner Bros/DCEU to name a few. The long-standing proprietary cable TV programming giant also wants in on this massive market but can they truly compete—especially with such a huge price tag?

With a highly competitive introductory monthly subscription fee of $7, a vast library of readily available 4‐quadrant demographic content, and a brand name that is synonymous with family‐friendly entertainment, Disney+ is in the best possible position to enter into this increasingly competitive and crowded market.