Disney's Streaming Services: Disney+ (and Hulu, ESPN+, Star, & hotstar)

[MisterPenguin]

Mandalorian still #3 on Nielson's streaming top ten...

‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Holds Top Nielsen U.S. Streaming Spot For Third Week As ‘The Crown’ Enters The Palace

Netflix's "The Queen's Gambit" finished No. 1 for a third straight week on the Nielsen U.S. streaming chart.

deadline.com

 

[MisterPenguin]

A suggestion: so that there aren't multiple threads discussing the Investor Meeting, please hold off posting new D+ news here until the meeting is over, then we can summarize it here.

To discuss the Investor Meeting as it's happening today, Thursday, Dec 10 4:30 - 8:30 PM, please go here...

Disney's Investor Day 2020 (December 10th, 2020)

I don't recognize this song at all. :cautious:

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[Darkprime]

Raya and The Last Dragon Day and Date release on Disney+ and Theaters in March 2021!

 

[DCBaker]

 

[BrianLo]

I'm still a couple hours behind the current live stream since I recently got home... but can I officially gloat?

Literally Disney+ Star in Canada is what @Disney Irish and I argued for and told was never going to happen. From the additional tile to the password protected login to hide adult content away. This is exactly what I envisioned, we argued passionately about and were poo poo'd.

It never made sense to launch a totally separate service in other markets, Hulu in the US was never going to translate to Canada and justify its own separate subscription. I'm thrilled because as a service Disney+ Star is a pretty mandatory staple for my market.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I'm still a couple hours behind the current live stream since I recently got home... but can I officially gloat?

Literally Disney+ Star in Canada is what @Disney Irish and I argued for and told was never going to happen. From the additional tile to the password protected login to hide adult content away. This is exactly what I envisioned, we argued passionately about and were poo poo'd.

It never made sense to launch a totally separate service in other markets, Hulu in the US was never going to translate to Canada and justify its own separate subscription. I'm thrilled because as a service Disney+ Star is a pretty mandatory staple for my market.

Agree'd, and I also always thought it would happen.

 

[Disney Irish]

I'm still a couple hours behind the current live stream since I recently got home... but can I officially gloat?

Literally Disney+ Star in Canada is what @Disney Irish and I argued for and told was never going to happen. From the additional tile to the password protected login to hide adult content away. This is exactly what I envisioned, we argued passionately about and were poo poo'd.

It never made sense to launch a totally separate service in other markets, Hulu in the US was never going to translate to Canada and justify its own separate subscription. I'm thrilled because as a service Disney+ Star is a pretty mandatory staple for my market.

Its been so obvious where Disney is going with Direct to Consumer. The writing has been on the wall for over a year now.

As I said in the Investor thread I predict Hulu to be renamed to Star to merge the services once Disney purchases the rest from Comcast. Longer term it doesn't make sense to keep to separate when its the exact same offering as Star. Its easy to limit content based on region, and its already being done. So no reason not to do it.

 

[BrianLo]

Agree'd, and I also always thought it would happen.

To be fair I don't think I understood Hulu as it pertains to the American market (particularly with live TV there and the huge amount of license deals here Bell and Rogers / CTV and Global have). A lot of people here likewise could not understand what I meant about the Canadian market, it just did not make sense to launch a fairly meagre Disney adult app to compete against Crave.

This is great though, I'm legitimately thrilled with the strength of content this updated service will offer us. Logan and Legion belong in the Marvel section when you are trying to browse for X-men content. Searchlight and FX content rounds out the demographic offerings. Plus I am just happy Love Victor is in the app, where it belongs.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Literally Disney+ Star in Canada is what @Disney Irish and I argued for and told was never going to happen. From the additional tile to the password protected login to hide adult content away. This is exactly what I envisioned, we argued passionately about and were poo poo'd.

I was pretty sure I argued that it wouldn't happen..... .... in the U.S.

And it still hasn't. And it won't.

Hulu in the U.S. is not just a Disney library. It has licensed material from lots of other companies and it still is technically part owned by other companies that Disney has yet to fully pay off and it has live TV with cloud digital storage.

It would take at least three to five years to disentangle Hulu to be what Star is internationally.

Star has just Disney content. Period. Totally different from Hulu.

Now, I did take the side the Disney wouldn't want an adult section attached to D+, and I was wrong. I didn't say it would never happen (like Hulu and D+ merging), just unlikely. And I'm surprised. There's a lot of content that will be on Star which is very un-Disneyish. It could wind up tarnishing the brand. They kept Touchstone separate for that very reason and Touchstone wasn't as nearly as 'adult' as a lot of formerly Fox properties.

But there are still some regions they'll be keeping D+ and Star+ as separate platforms. So, they'll see which system works out better.

Interestingly, in the Q&A, Christine mentioned the surprising analytic that they got a lot more adult-without-children subs than expected.

Though, as an adult without children, I can easily explain that to them... we have more disposable cash because we don't have children.

 

[BrianLo]

I was pretty sure I argued that it wouldn't happen..... .... in the U.S.

And it still hasn't. And it won't.

Hulu in the U.S. is not just a Disney library. It has licensed material from lots of other companies and it still is technically part owned by other companies that Disney has yet to fully pay off and it has live TV with cloud digital storage.

It would take at least three to five years to disentangle Hulu to be what Star is internationally.

Star has just Disney content. Period. Totally different from Hulu.

Now, I did take the side the Disney wouldn't want an adult section attached to D+, and I was wrong. I didn't say it would never happen (like Hulu and D+ merging), just unlikely. And I'm surprised. There's a lot of content that will be on Star which is very un-Disneyish. It could wind up tarnishing the brand. They kept Touchstone separate for that very reason and Touchstone wasn't as nearly as 'adult' as a lot of formerly Fox properties.

But there are still some regions they'll be keeping D+ and Star+ as separate platforms. So, they'll see which system works out better.

Interestingly, in the Q&A, Christine mentioned the surprising analytic that they got a lot more adult-without-children subs than expected.

Though, as an adult without children, I can easily explain that to them... we have more disposable cash because we don't have children.

For the record I wasn't thinking about you in my "gloating" per say. It was definitely a hard position to argue, because rightfully so there was strong adamancy.

There was totally two different arguments occurring and I acknowledge it is hard to have a discussion about the Canadian market and contextualize it to the American one... we were both coming from totally different places and for the moment at least we were both ultimately right from our position. We just failed to recognize the differences in each others markets. I didn't know about the Live TV portion, I thought it was just another Netflix.

But the greater point that they'd never mix and mingle Handmaids Tale onto the Disney App was a biggie and that very rapidly has shown they don't care about entangling the brands. I know some people hate that, I welcome it.

I really wanted to see Disney actually embrace FX and Searchlight as "their brands" like they have Marvel. I'm personally glad at least in some markets they are already doing so. I personally don't need Disney to just be a saccharine provider of remake live action Beauty and the Beast prequel titles. Give me award worthy adult titles. By putting them on the same level on their primary platform, it really does more to retain those new studios instead of slowly shuttering them like Touchstone.

FX and Searchlight do way more to establish the parent company as one of quality than live action Disney does... I know we both agree on that! (Based on your love of Alan Horne).



Speaking of, the FX guy really seemed to be legitimately gushing about his new overlords. In a seeming genuine way.

 

[MisterPenguin]

For the record I wasn't thinking about you in my "gloating" per say. It was definitely a hard position to argue, because rightfully so there was strong adamancy.

There was totally two different arguments occurring and I acknowledge it is hard to have a discussion about the Canadian market and contextualize it to the American one... we were both coming from totally different places and for the moment at least we were both ultimately right from our position. We just failed to recognize the differences in each others markets. I didn't know about the Live TV portion, I thought it was just another Netflix.

But the greater point that they'd never mix and mingle Handmaids Tale onto the Disney App was a biggie and that very rapidly has shown they don't care about entangling the brands. I know some people hate that, I welcome it.

I really wanted to see Disney actually embrace FX and Searchlight as "their brands" like they have Marvel. I'm personally glad at least in some markets they are already doing so. I personally don't need Disney to just be a saccharine provider of remake live action Beauty and the Beast prequel titles. Give me award worthy adult titles. By putting them on the same level on their primary platform, it really does more to retain those new studios instead of slowly shuttering them like Touchstone.

FX and Searchlight do way more to establish the parent company as one of quality than live action Disney does... I know we both agree on that! (Based on your love of Alan Horne).



Speaking of, the FX guy really seemed to be legitimately gushing about his new overlords. In a seeming genuine way.

He did an outstanding job selling his brand. Even though I watch FX shows on Hulu, I was like "Where can I get more FX!!??"

But did you catch Feige's swagger? There was a man who literally made billions and billions for the company, took control of everything Marvel including comic books, TV and animation, and has 100% job security. He wasn't selling anything because he knew he didn't have to sell. He wasn't performing because he didn't have to perform. His showing up was a favor. He had all the confidence of a man explaining the placement of the couch, the bar, and the TV in his man cave for ultimate viewing pleasure.

 

[BrianLo]

He did an outstanding job selling his brand. Even though I watch FX shows on Hulu, I was like "Where can I get more FX!!??"

I can't reliably get most FX shows, so that segment following the announcement it would only be February had me almost more giddy than the other heavy hitters.

But did you catch Feige's swagger? There was a man who literally made billions and billions for the company, took control of everything Marvel including comic books, TV and animation, and has 100% job security. He wasn't selling anything because he knew he didn't have to sell. He wasn't performing because he didn't have to perform. His showing up was a favor. He had all the confidence of a man explaining the placement of the couch, the bar, and the TV in his man cave for ultimate viewing pleasure.

Definitely. "We're doing A, B, C and X, Y, Z and everything I want, and you'll like it, ok bye back to you Bob".

 

[MisterPenguin]

I can't reliably get most FX shows, so that segment following the announcement it would only be February had me almost more giddy than the other heavy hitters.

What We Do in the Shadows and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are comedic masterpieces.

Also, the next season of Letterkenny drops on Hulu in December. Do you still get that on Crave? If not, you should be getting it on Star.

 

[BrianLo]

What We Do in the Shadows and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are comedic masterpieces.

Also, the next season of Letterkenny drops on Hulu in December. Do you still get that on Crave? If not, you should be getting it on Star.

Ya that will stay on Crave as a Canadian production I'd imagine. However, I have imminent plans to watch it with two friends who are from that region in the New Year. I've only seen a couple of episodes with also people from the Ottawa region that love it... I'm actually originally from Cambridge (Handmaid's Tale).

I've seen most of Always Sunny and look forward to not being a naughty Pirate. I also love What we Do in the Shadows... In fact I texted a friend earlier that I want them to watch What we Do in the Shadows as soon as it arrives on streaming.

One more Fun fact... I accidentally saw What we Do in the Shadows (the film) in Wellington NZ. I legitimately think I walked into the wrong theatre and it was definitely up there in terms of random unplanned happy accidents. I had no knowledge of the film prior, I don't even know if it was in wider release at the time, or just because I happened to be where it was filmed.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Recap

Walt Disney Animation

D+ Series

• Baymax! (3D)
• Zootopia+
• Moana (long form musical comedy)
• Tiana (long form musical comedy)
• Iwájú (in conjuction with Kugali, a pan-African comicbook/media company) Sci-fi - 2022

Theatrical Film

• Raya and the Last Drgon – Mar 5, 2021 (D+Premium and Theater [the only such one announced... for now])
• Encanto (set in Colombia, music by Miranda) – Nov 24, 2021

Pixar

D+ Series

• Spark Shorts: Burrow – Dec 25, 2020 (paired with Soul)
• Pixar Popcorn (short shorts feat. Cars, Incredibles, Finding Nemo) – Jan 2021
• Dug Days (Up! spin-off) – Fall 2021
• Cars (Lightning McQueen & Mater) – Fall 2022
• Win or Lose (original) – Fall 2023
• Monsters at Work (not mentioned on investor day)

D+ Movies

• Soul (was supposed to be theatrical) - Dec 25, 2020

Theatrical Films

• Luca – June 18, 2021
• Turning Red – Mar 11, 2022
• Lightyear (Buzz’s origin) (Evans) – June 17, 2022

Documentary

• Inside Pixar (4 episodes released already, more to come)

Disney Studios

D+ Series

• Swiss Family Robinson
• The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers
• Turner & Hooch
• Big Shot (Stamos)
• The Mysterious Benedict Society (Hale, Schaaled)
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians
• On Pointe (not mentioned during Investor Days) - Dec 18, 2020
• Cosmos: Possible Worlds (not mentioned during Investor Days) - Dec 18, 2020

D+ Movies

• Peter Pan & Wendy
• Pinocchio
• Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers (Mulaney, Samberg) hybrid live/anim. – Spring 2022
• Noelle (last year)
• Godmothered (this year)
• Hocus Pocus 2 (Middler)
• Three Men and a Baby (Efron)
• Safety
• 3 movies based on sports personalities: Chris Paul, Giannis Anttokounmpo, Keanon Lowe
• Flora & Ulysses
• Cheaper by the Dozen (remake/update)
• Home Alone (*not* mentioned on Investor Day)

D+ Movies Animated

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid
• The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild – early 2022
• Night at the Museum - 2021

Theatrical Film

• Cruella (Stone) - May 28, 2021
• Jungle Cruise (Rock, Blunt) – July 30, 2021
• The Beatles: Get Back (documentary, *not* mentioned during Investor Day) - Aug 17, 2021
• Lion King prequel
• Disenchanted (Amy Adams)
• Sister Act 3 (Goldberg)
• The Little Mermaid (live action remake, Baily, Diggs)

Marvel

D+ Series

• WandaVision – Jan 15, 2021
• Falcon a/t Winter Soldier – March 19, 2021
• Loki – May 7, 2021
• What If…? (animated) – Summer 2021
• M.O.D.O.K. (animated, *not* mentioned on Investor Day
• Ms. Marvel – late 2021
• Hawkeye
• She-Hulk
• Moon Knight
• Secret Invasion (Nick Fury)
• Ironheart (Riri)
• Armor Wars (War Machine)
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special – Christmas 2022
• I Am Groot (baby Groot shorts)

Hulu/Star Series

• Helstrom (just recently released on Hulu on Oct 16, *not* mentioned on Investor Day)
• M.O.D.O.K. (animated, *not* mentioned on Investor Day) - 2021
• Hit Monkey (animated, *not* mentioned on Investor Day)

Theatrical Film

• Black Widow – May 7, 2021
• Shang-Chi – July 9 2021
• Eternals - Nov 5, 2021
• Doctor Strange 2 – March 25, 2022
• Thor: Love and Thunder (Thor, Jane, Valkyrie, Gorr) – May 6, 2022
• Black Panther 2 (not replacing T’challa, shooting starts Jul 2021) – July 8, 2022
• Captain Marvel 2 – Nov 11, 2022
• Ant-Man a/t Wasp: Quantumania (Kang, Hank & Janet, Cassie) - 2022
• Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3 (not mentioned during Investor day) - 2023
• Blade
• Fantastic Four
• Deadpool 3 (not mentioned during Investor day)
• Unnamed Mutant/X-Men film(s) - (not mentioned during Investor day, but announced by Feige at Comic-Con)

LucasFilm StarWars

D+ Series Live Action

• Mandalorian renewed to season 4, season 3 Christmas of 2021
• Ahsoka (Mando spin-off, Dawson)
• Rangers of the New Republic (Mando spin-off)
• Andor (just started production) Rogue One prequel – Summer 2022
• Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor, Christiansen; production starts Mar 2021)
• The Acolyte (Headland directing)
• Lando (could be animated?)

D+ Series Animated

• The Bad Batch (Clone Wars sequel)
• Star Wars: Visions (anime anthology) – 2021
• Droid Story

Theatrical Film

• Rogue Squadron (Patti Jenkins directed) – Dec 2023
• Unnamed (Taika Waititi directed)
• Unnamed (Kevin Feige directed, not announced on Investor Day)

Furthermore:

• Unnamed (Rian Johnson project? not mentioned on investor day)
• Unnamed (J.D. Dilliard project? not mentioned on investor day)

LucasFilm Other

D+ Series Live Action

• Willow sequel series

Theatrical Film

• Indiana Jones 5 – July 2022
• Children of Blood and Bone (in production)

FX on Hulu

New

• Alien
• The Old Man (Jeff Bridges)
• American Horror Stories (note the plural, spin-off anthology)
• Platform (anthology, BJ Novak)
• Reservation Dogs (half hour scripted comedy, Waititi)
• Y the Last Man
• Shogun
• Devs
• A Teacher
• Mrs. America

Returning

• Always Sunny (four more seasons)
• Atlanta (new seasons)
• American Horror Story (new seasons)
• Dave (new seasons)
• What We Do in the Shadows (new seasons)
• Mayan (new seasons)
• Better Things (new seasons)
• Snowfall (new seasons)
• Archer (new seasons)

Hulu/Star

• Only Murders in the Building (Martin, Short)
• The Dropout (McKinnon)
• Dopesick (Keaton, Dawson, Sarsgaard (no, not one of the brothers))
• Nine Perfect (Kidman, McCarthy)
• bunch of real life ‘unscripted’ garbage
• Handmaid’s Tale (new seasons)

NatGeo

Documentaries

• Cousteau
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Whales
• A Real Bug’s Life
• America the Beautiful

Unscripted

• Limitless (Hemsworth)
• Welcome to Earth (Wil Smith)

Not (or Hardly) Mentioned During Investor Days

• films from 20th Century and Searchlight (but will wind up on D+ or Hulu/Star)
• getting all of Disney's back catalogue of TV on D+
• TV Studios that feed the 'linear channels' - Freeform, ABC, Disney Jr., etc...
• how Mulan did as a premium offering (and after the premium tier expired)

Streamer Subscriber Goals

D+

• Original five-year projection (2024): 60-90 million
• Actual in one year (2020): 86.8 million
• New five year (2024) projection: 230-260 million (with 30-40% being hotstar)
• price going up $1 to $8.00/month (2 extra Euros)

hulu

• Original five-year projection (2024): 40-60 million
• Actual in one year (2020): 38.8 million
• has been growing about 7 million/year
• hulu+live TV: 4 million subs (#1 DMVPD / top 5 pay TV providers)
• Those who sub to ESPN+ can find ESPN+ within Hulu

ESPN+

• Original five-year projection (2024): 8-12 million
• Actual in one year (2020): 11.5 million

Star (as a tile within Disney+)

• This will be a section within D+ with a Button, just like for Marvel or Pixar
• Basically, all the Disney content that has been sequestered onto Hulu for being too adult for D+
  • from: 20th Century, Searchlight, FX, Marvel, Hulu​
  • example: Family Guy, Jojo Rabbit, Always Sunny, Logan, Handmaid’s Tale​
• Parental control
• Region: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore soon, Japan and S.Korea later in 2021
• Due: Feb 23, 2021
• Price: €9.00

Star+ (not within Disney+, but a separate streamer that can be bundled with D+)

• Basically, Hulu for outside the USA, but, just the Disney content, and no live TV
• Will include more adult content
  • from: 20th Century, Searchlight, FX, Marvel, Hulu​
  • example: Family Guy, Jojo Rabbit, Always Sunny, Logan, Handmaid’s Tale​
• More focus on local sports
• Region: Latin America
• Due: June 2021
• Price: ~$7.50/month for Star+ (~$9.00 bundled with D+)

Misc

• LucasFilm built a bigger “Volume.” Plus three more internationally. Crank that content!!
• An unexpectedly large portion of D+ subs are childless adults
• Disney streaming channels coming to Comcast's Xfinity X1 and Flex platforms
• as was the case with Marvel heroes joining Fortnite, so now will the Mandalorian
• Disney aims for 100+ new titles per year
• parental controls will be added globally to D+
• Company divided into two parts: Media and Entertainment // Parks, Experiences, and Products
• Fact Sheet with program descriptions click here
• PR Info of Investor Day Content click here
• Video of Investor Day click here
• Slides from Investor Day click here

 

[seascape]

What do the estimated numbers Disney gave yesterday mean?

Disney+ 230 to 260 million
Hulu. 50 to 60 million
ESPN+ 20 to 30 million

First, as I said last year, no company is going to make predictions they know they won't make. Companies are always conservative. Last year, I said Disney would blow away the 60 to 90 million number for Disney+. They did, even before Covid19 hit. Covid may have increased the number of subscribers this year, but the new numbers show I was right. Anyway, I still believe Disney is underestimating the numbers they will actually have. I believe they will have 300 million Disney+ US, Disney+ Star and Hotstar customers by the end of 2024. They will have 65 million Hulu US customers and 50 million ESPN+ customers, because of sports betting. Yes, the Walt Disney Company is involved in gambling and R rated movies and show. The Disney combination of Disney, Hulu. Star and ESPN+ make Disney's streaming service a much better value than Netflix and so by the end of 2024 Disney's will not only be the largest atreaming provider by revenue but be the largest streaming company based on the individual number of customers. In other words, you would still be 1 customer even if you subscribed to one or all 4 services. Note, Disney's fourth service is the standalone Hotstar service in the US.

 

[doctornick]

But the greater point that they'd never mix and mingle Handmaids Tale onto the Disney App was a biggie and that very rapidly has shown they don't care about entangling the brands. I know some people hate that, I welcome it.

I think it is worth noting that Disney might have some different perspective on the "Disney brand" in different countries. They probably have less of a concern of the child/family friendly image in some place. In fact, in somewhere like Japan, where "cuteness" is not thought of as very kiddie and the fantasy of Disney is more acceptable as a normal "adult" thing, I don't think they'd have any problem with more serious things being intertwined with the Disney brand.

In America, Disney treads a narrow line and they really don't want to disturb their place as "if it's Disney, it's fine for kids". It's why ExtraTERRORstrial Encounter went bye bye (unfortunately IMHO).

Granted, though, that the rolling out of and integrated Star/Disney+ in Canada, Australia and New Zealand somewhat argues against this point as (I believe) Disney is viewed similarly in those places as in the USA.

That said, in the US, I think Disney is positioning Hulu as being their YouTubeTV or Sling competition (live TV) while Disney+ is their Netflix/Amazon Prime competition. they serve different roles and separate services with bundling makes a lot of sense. If they are going to do that anyway, no reason to muddle the Disney brand awareness by having adult content on Disney+. It's probably a more compelling argument in other countries where live TV isn't a consideration.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disney Investor Day Review: It’s All About Streaming, ‘Star Wars’ & Marvel, Stupid; Bob Chapek Shows Steady Hand In CEO Role

Very different from 2019, this year's Investor Day saw Disney now in the streaming big leagues & aiming higher, our TV Critic says

deadline.com

 

[BrianLo]

Granted, though, that the rolling out of and integrated Star/Disney+ in Canada, Australia and New Zealand somewhat argues against this point as (I believe) Disney is viewed similarly in those places as in the USA.

Definitely same perception up here branding wise.

What’s super interesting though is the revelation that the majority of the subscribers are actually childless. I think that probably informs Disney to some extent that they don’t need to be so afraid with only promoting exclusively kid friendly content and allows them to experiment with this branching out.

Albeit we now know if anything it’s not brand confusion holding them back from integrating Hulu. My only overarching complaint is that I’d like to see some more mature Marvel (and maybe Star Wars) content eventually. That seems unlikely if Disney+ doesn’t integrate the services in the US. There needs to be a reliable space for Logan’s and Legions that isn’t just a totally different platform.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

This is great though, I'm legitimately thrilled with the strength of content this updated service will offer us. Logan and Legion belong in the Marvel section when you are trying to browse for X-men content. Searchlight and FX content rounds out the demographic offerings. Plus I am just happy Love Victor is in the app, where it belongs.

It also means that Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana-Fana Bo-Besca the Third is also a "Disney Princess"...at least in some countries: