What side are arguing now? They've partnered with Netflix to allow viewing of their movies as part of the Netflix subscription, giving them access to that larger footprint.
It's possible you're not explaining this well, but it reads like you're all over the place.
TL: DR- DMA, while good as a service, isn't sufficient enough for the streaming needs for all who wish to access Disney content. Thus Disney hasn't sufficiently created the infrastructure to handle those needs and by putting valuable content in the hands of "partners" like Netflix, it hamstrings itself long term.
Based on your responses, I wasn't clear enough. I was responding to the following posts, yours included.
Iger had 5 years to do streaming back in 2012, He's about to overrun the end of the runway and he has no clue hes near it.
Disney Movies Anywhere is a great streaming service. First run Disney movies are on Netflix with a cycling lifespan, and all of their content is available on iTunes.
I agree with Ford that TWDC hasn't fully addressed streaming in a comprehensive way that sets the company up for long term success. Their current strategy, highlighted in your post, is a bridge to the future with a mix of options for consumers. But it only is a bridge, not where Disney needs to be in 5-10 years.
Points of Access
Let's break down their streaming strategy into parts. There is the home entertainment retail component where, through Keychest, if you buy a Disney film, physical or digital, and you register it with Disney Movies Anywhere, you can watch it on any platform that your DMA account is connected to (iTunes, Amazon, Google Play etc.). Long term, Disney has the ability to sell its films directly to consumers with this service because Disney Accounts can have credit cards attached to them. DMA/Keychest is the best streaming solution in the home entertainment arena, further aided by the other studios' reluctance to license it in favor of their inferior UltraViolet platform. Disney has succeeded in creating and controlling a streaming platform for home entertainment. We are in agreement on this.
Our point of disagreement comes from the SVOD subscription and Cable arenas. But before we get into the meat of it, let's compare the size of these points of access. The home entertainment market has been shrinking since the heights of the DVD years. While Disney continues to see healthy sales because it makes films people want to buy, said market is much smaller than SVOD or Cable. As of April 2017, Netflix has 53 million US subscribers. In the US alone, the Disney Channel has 93 million subscribers. I believe your friend Jim has cited former CFO/ P&R SVP Jay Rasulo, who has said the Disney Channel is the company's single largest ambassador of the brand.
In 2012,
Disney sold the pay-tv rights to its new releases to Neflix, starting with films released in 2016 onward. Additionally, Disney has put Disney Channel programming and library film titles on the service as well. This arrangement favors Netflix, not Disney. Yes it is good for Disney to have its films and tv shows on a popular platform like Netflix, but at what cost? Netflix's business model predicates on being the main way people access films and tv shows. A very valuable market segment for Netflix is children's programming. Disney has licensed a considerable amount of its films and TV shows to Netflix. Netflix uses this content to build up the credibility of its children's offerings. In turn, as we have seen with adult oriented prestige television, they then use the viewing data and subscribers fees/cheap debt to create original children's programming, which they fully control. Netflix started this with their partnership with DreamWorks Animation and even as that partnership will come to a close once their current deal expires, they will use what they learned to continue developing high quality children's show and movies. If you're Disney, do you want to be in business with a company that actively wants to undermine one of your greatest assets and largest touch points to consumers, aka the Disney Channel?
Netflix and Amazon want to be what Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network were for earlier generations, the place where kids watch shows and movies. And if you're Disney, as younger generations forgo cable, but pay for streaming services, you are handing over that mindshare, and the revenues that follow, to your competitors. The SVOD space and the cable spaces are becoming one in the eyes of consumers and Disney has given some of its most valuable films, which could be used to sell a stand alone Disney Channel suite or maintain/increase its value to cable operators, away. A lot of the critical focus on TWDC goes to ESPN, but this is just as bad because Disney's long term value comes from the relationships it develops with its viewers.
Hope that clears things up.
Addendum: The WATCH apps for the Disney Channel suite are inferior to both Netflix and some cable companies' streaming apps, like xfinitystream.
