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Disney's Streaming Services: Disney+ (and Hulu, ESPN+, Star, & hotstar)
- Thread starter MisterPenguin
- Start date
Slpy3270
Well-Known Member
Obviously these are worldwide figures since Grey's Anatomy is still stuck at Netflix in the US (and likely will be for the foreseeable future as long as they pay top dollar for syndication).
Here's a new Hulu/Disney+ deal for National Streaming Day.
From now until Saturday, May 27, new and eligible returning Hulu subscribers (who are not Disney+, ESPN+, or Disney Bundle subscribers) can subscribe to Hulu (With Ads) for just $2/month for three months – and add Disney+ (With Ads) for just $2/month more! Watch anything from episodes of “The Goldbergs” and “Abbott Elementary” to Hulu Originals like “How I Met Your Father” and “The Great”.
Head to hulu.com/earlyaccess to learn more about this special offer!
*Hulu (With Ads) plan and Disney+ (With Ads) Add-on only. Early access to offer on Thursday 5/18/23 via hulu.com/earlyaccess. Offer ends 11:59 PM PT on 5/27/23. 18+ only. Offer valid for new and eligible returning Hulu subscribers (who have not been Hulu subscribers in the past 1 month); Disney+, ESPN+, and Disney Bundle subscribers are not eligible.
After expiration of the promotional period, Hulu (With Ads) subscription auto-renews at $7.99/month, and Disney+ (With Ads) subscription auto-renews at $2/month, or then-current regular monthly price respectively. Cancel anytime, effective at the end of your billing period. No refunds or credits for partial months. Access content from each service separately. Not combinable with any free trial or any other promotional offers or pricing (including the Disney Bundle); not redeemable via gift card. Any plan switch after redemption of this offer will result in forfeiture of the discount pricing.
From now until Saturday, May 27, new and eligible returning Hulu subscribers (who are not Disney+, ESPN+, or Disney Bundle subscribers) can subscribe to Hulu (With Ads) for just $2/month for three months – and add Disney+ (With Ads) for just $2/month more! Watch anything from episodes of “The Goldbergs” and “Abbott Elementary” to Hulu Originals like “How I Met Your Father” and “The Great”.
Head to hulu.com/earlyaccess to learn more about this special offer!
*Hulu (With Ads) plan and Disney+ (With Ads) Add-on only. Early access to offer on Thursday 5/18/23 via hulu.com/earlyaccess. Offer ends 11:59 PM PT on 5/27/23. 18+ only. Offer valid for new and eligible returning Hulu subscribers (who have not been Hulu subscribers in the past 1 month); Disney+, ESPN+, and Disney Bundle subscribers are not eligible.
After expiration of the promotional period, Hulu (With Ads) subscription auto-renews at $7.99/month, and Disney+ (With Ads) subscription auto-renews at $2/month, or then-current regular monthly price respectively. Cancel anytime, effective at the end of your billing period. No refunds or credits for partial months. Access content from each service separately. Not combinable with any free trial or any other promotional offers or pricing (including the Disney Bundle); not redeemable via gift card. Any plan switch after redemption of this offer will result in forfeiture of the discount pricing.
Hulu Special Streaming Deal for Disney Parks Fans
National Streaming Day is just around the corner! Celebrate by binge-watching your favorite movies and shows, and check out this special streaming deal for Disney Parks fans!
disneyparks.disney.go.com
Early details on plans for an ESPN subscription-streaming service from a new article at the Wall Street Journal.
"ESPN is laying the groundwork to sell its channel directly to cable cord-cutters as a subscription-streaming service in coming years, according to people familiar with the matter, a shift with profound implications for the company and the broader television business.
Executives at ESPN and its parent, Disney, for years have said it was inevitable that the sports-TV channel would one day be available as a stand-alone streaming service. Now, as consumers increasingly cut the cable-TV cord, the company is actively preparing for that shift under a project with the internal code name “Flagship,” the people said. The company has set no firm timeline for the change.
ESPN would continue to offer the TV channel after launching a streaming option, the people familiar with the matter said. Still, the change could have a major impact on cable-TV providers, since ESPN is one of the main attractions of the cable bundle. The providers pay to carry the ESPN channel and would have to compete with the new streaming service.
ESPN has begun securing flexibility in its deals with cable providers to offer the channel directly to consumers, the people said. The financial terms of those deals couldn’t be learned. The company is having similar discussions with pro sports leagues as those rights deals come up and has secured the same flexibility from at least two major leagues, the people said.
The sports-media giant took its first step into streaming in 2018 with the launch of ESPN+, a monthly streaming service whose live programming includes golf events, certain Major League Baseball and professional hockey games, as well as a variety of scripted and unscripted programming. It has 25.3 million subscribers.
But ESPN+ doesn’t offer access to the ESPN channel itself, including high-value programming like National Basketball Association and National Football League telecasts that are only available on TV. Project “Flagship” is about helping ESPN transition the full channel to streaming.
Every big media company is carrying out a tricky shift from the traditional TV business, which has been very lucrative, to a streaming world where the economics are more uncertain. Consumers for decades have paid for large bundles of channels under long-term, hard-to-cancel cable contracts.
That system means that many consumers who don’t watch ESPN are paying for it in their packages. ESPN gets a $9.42 slice of the average cable TV bill—it collects fees from cable providers for each customer—compared with an average of 49 cents per subscriber for other U.S. cable networks, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Streaming is a different world. People only pay for the subscriptions they want. It is likely that the number of households who would sign up for an ESPN streaming service would be smaller than the number who have the ESPN channel in their cable TV packages. That could impact how ESPN prices its streaming service. MSG’s new streaming service, which offers New York Knicks and Buffalo Sabres games, is priced at $30 a month.
“It’s a huge decision for us to make and we know that we’ve got to get it right both in terms of pricing and timing,” Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said earlier this month, of migrating ESPN to a direct-to-consumer service. At the time, he offered few details of Disney’s work on the change."
Full article below.
www.wsj.com
"ESPN is laying the groundwork to sell its channel directly to cable cord-cutters as a subscription-streaming service in coming years, according to people familiar with the matter, a shift with profound implications for the company and the broader television business.
Executives at ESPN and its parent, Disney, for years have said it was inevitable that the sports-TV channel would one day be available as a stand-alone streaming service. Now, as consumers increasingly cut the cable-TV cord, the company is actively preparing for that shift under a project with the internal code name “Flagship,” the people said. The company has set no firm timeline for the change.
ESPN would continue to offer the TV channel after launching a streaming option, the people familiar with the matter said. Still, the change could have a major impact on cable-TV providers, since ESPN is one of the main attractions of the cable bundle. The providers pay to carry the ESPN channel and would have to compete with the new streaming service.
ESPN has begun securing flexibility in its deals with cable providers to offer the channel directly to consumers, the people said. The financial terms of those deals couldn’t be learned. The company is having similar discussions with pro sports leagues as those rights deals come up and has secured the same flexibility from at least two major leagues, the people said.
The sports-media giant took its first step into streaming in 2018 with the launch of ESPN+, a monthly streaming service whose live programming includes golf events, certain Major League Baseball and professional hockey games, as well as a variety of scripted and unscripted programming. It has 25.3 million subscribers.
But ESPN+ doesn’t offer access to the ESPN channel itself, including high-value programming like National Basketball Association and National Football League telecasts that are only available on TV. Project “Flagship” is about helping ESPN transition the full channel to streaming.
Every big media company is carrying out a tricky shift from the traditional TV business, which has been very lucrative, to a streaming world where the economics are more uncertain. Consumers for decades have paid for large bundles of channels under long-term, hard-to-cancel cable contracts.
That system means that many consumers who don’t watch ESPN are paying for it in their packages. ESPN gets a $9.42 slice of the average cable TV bill—it collects fees from cable providers for each customer—compared with an average of 49 cents per subscriber for other U.S. cable networks, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Streaming is a different world. People only pay for the subscriptions they want. It is likely that the number of households who would sign up for an ESPN streaming service would be smaller than the number who have the ESPN channel in their cable TV packages. That could impact how ESPN prices its streaming service. MSG’s new streaming service, which offers New York Knicks and Buffalo Sabres games, is priced at $30 a month.
“It’s a huge decision for us to make and we know that we’ve got to get it right both in terms of pricing and timing,” Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said earlier this month, of migrating ESPN to a direct-to-consumer service. At the time, he offered few details of Disney’s work on the change."
Full article below.
WSJ News Exclusive | ESPN Plans to Stream Flagship Channel, Eyeing Cable TV’s Demise
ESPN is laying the groundwork to sell its channel directly to cord-cutters and has begun talks with sports leagues and cable partners.
www.wsj.com
Bloomberg is reporting content could start being removed from Disney+ as soon as next week.
"Walt Disney Co. will soon begin removing programs from its namesake streaming service, the latest step in its efforts to reduce losses in that business.
Disney is going to take down programs from its original slate for Disney+, which debuted in November 2019, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has already decided not to renew the shows, but they have remained on the service up to now.
A list possible programs being cut has been circulating internally. People who worked on the Disney+ projects will be notified soon, and the shows will be pulled starting next week, said the people who asked not to be identified. The content must be removed to avoid additional costs, such as residual fees for participants.
The cuts are part of Disney’s push to make its streaming service profitable. Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said on an earnings call last week that Disney will write off as much as $1.8 billion of programming in 2023 as it culls the number of films and TV shows on its services. The charges will mostly occur in the current quarter.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger returned to Disney in November after the world’s largest entertainment company reported a near $1.5 billion loss in its streaming TV business. He wants to reduce spending on shows and films by as much as $3 billion, taking a more curated approach to what’s on Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+."
Full article below.
"Walt Disney Co. will soon begin removing programs from its namesake streaming service, the latest step in its efforts to reduce losses in that business.
Disney is going to take down programs from its original slate for Disney+, which debuted in November 2019, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has already decided not to renew the shows, but they have remained on the service up to now.
A list possible programs being cut has been circulating internally. People who worked on the Disney+ projects will be notified soon, and the shows will be pulled starting next week, said the people who asked not to be identified. The content must be removed to avoid additional costs, such as residual fees for participants.
The cuts are part of Disney’s push to make its streaming service profitable. Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said on an earnings call last week that Disney will write off as much as $1.8 billion of programming in 2023 as it culls the number of films and TV shows on its services. The charges will mostly occur in the current quarter.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger returned to Disney in November after the world’s largest entertainment company reported a near $1.5 billion loss in its streaming TV business. He wants to reduce spending on shows and films by as much as $3 billion, taking a more curated approach to what’s on Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+."
Full article below.
Slpy3270
Well-Known Member
In addition to all the shows I just mentioned, Turner & Hooch will be gone, too.
Interesting that they're notifying creators ahead of time. I don't think WBD did that when they pulled those shows off HBO Max.
Slpy3270
Well-Known Member
That's a biggie. After the huge backlash WBD got for pulling all that content from HBO Max without any warning, not to mention making it ambiguous if said content was ever coming back (Final Space was pretty much a tax write-off so that's likely in the vault forever), would Disney be stupid enough to repeat that?
FAST and Pay On Demand are the smart way to go. Creatives and studios get their residuals if and only if there are customers willing to pay for each individual piece of content (or series as a whole), or they get part of the advertisers' fee, if and only if an advertiser is willing to advertise their product with that content.
All those poorly rated content or content with little views have to justify their continuing residuals.
And when D+ becomes very profitable, some of that content can return.
Serpico Jones
Well-Known Member
Willow is being removed from Disney+.
deadline.com
Disney Removes Dozens Of Series From Disney+ & Hulu, Including ‘Big Shot’, ‘Willow’, ‘Y’ & ‘Dollface’
Disney is starting to pull content from streaming, with dozens of series and specials slated to leave Disney+ and Hulu on May 26
deadline.com
Slpy3270
Well-Known Member
And nothing of value was lost.Willow is being removed from Disney+.
Disney Removes Dozens Of Series From Disney+ & Hulu, Including ‘Big Shot’, ‘Willow’, ‘Y’ & ‘Dollface’
Disney is starting to pull content from streaming, with dozens of series and specials slated to leave Disney+ and Hulu on May 26
(Sucks that they're removing Howard though, especially on the week of the live-action Little Mermaid remake's release. Me thinks Don Hahn will find another way to put it out, since he actually owns the movie.)
doctornick
Well-Known Member
It’s interesting with The World According to Jeff Goldblum being one their hyped launched titles.
Benedict Society and Earth to Ned were two of my favorite shows on the service. While I probably wouldn’t be likely to rewatch them, I am a little sad they won’t be on there for others to discover
Benedict Society and Earth to Ned were two of my favorite shows on the service. While I probably wouldn’t be likely to rewatch them, I am a little sad they won’t be on there for others to discover
Slpy3270
Well-Known Member
Yeah. I watched the first season of Goldblum but the second season just didn't really catch on to me. I've only watched a few second season episodes and that was that. Goldblum did express interest in a third season but it was pretty obvious he wasn't that into the show anymore. I don't think he's losing much sleep over the show getting pulled.
Though, I wouldn't be shocked if most if not all these shows come back in some way, be it digital purchases or another platform/network. And I don't think they'll be "gone forever" as some are fearing (the tax write-offs that happened at Warner Bros. Discovery was due to a post-merger tax incentive that was to expire at the end of 2022 and Zaslav wanted to take advantage of that to cut as much costs as he could).
What is FAST?
Slpy3270
Well-Known Member
Free ad-supported streaming television, which are basically online streaming channels. They function almost exactly like an over-the-air TV station, but online.
I think Willow, Dollface, Pistol, The Hot Zone, The One And Only Ivan and Y: The Last Man did have great value, as did Howard. I was sure The World According to Jeff Goldblum would survive, and that Welcome To Earth was more likely to get the cut.
At least they're doing this more responsibly and better PR-wise than WBD did. Especially since there's no tax write-off here. But if Disney gets a $1.5-1.8 billion impairment charge and WBD can't get $1 billion in savings from the 75 titles Zaslav cut, that means something's off about its books.
Oh, like YouTube does? Well, one imagines these titles would fit there, yes.
Slpy3270
Well-Known Member
Considering that the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger has been an unmitigated disaster so far, it really doesn't surprise me their books are so broken.
That Zaslav is even entertaining the idea of TNT dropping the NBA, which TNT cannot live without especially with all their scripted original programming gone, should give you a hint of just how bad things are there.
Chip Chipperson
Well-Known Member
I really liked "The World According to Jeff Goldblum" and "Earth to Ned." It would be nice if they get licensed out to a free streamer and get new episodes.
Slpy3270
Well-Known Member
If Disney's willing to produce them since they own the IP.
Variety is now reporting a larger list of content to be removed from Disney+ and Hulu.
variety.com
- America the Beautiful
- Among the Stars
- Be Our Chef
- Best in Dough
- Best in Snow
- Better Nate Than Ever
- The Big Fib
- Big Shot
- Black Beauty
- Cheaper by the Dozen (2022)
- Clouds
- Darby and the Dead
- Diary of a Future President
- Disney Fairy Tale Weddings
- Dollface
- Earth to Ned
- Encore!
- Everything’s Trash
- Foodtastic
- Harmonious Live!
- Howard
- It’s a Dog’s Life With Bill Farmer
- Just Beyond
- Little Demon
- Love in the Time of Corona
- Maggie
- Magic Camp
- The Making of Willow
- The Mighty Ducks
- Marvel’s Hero Project
- Marvel’s MPower
- More Than Robots
- The Mysterious Benedict Society
- The One and Only Ivan
- Own the Room
- Pentatonix: Around the World for the Holidays
- Pick of the Litter
- Pistol
- The Premise
- The Princess
- The Quest
- The Real Right Stuff
- Rogue Trip
- Rosaline
- Shop Class
- A Spark Story
- Stargirl (2020)
- Stuntman
- Super/Natural
- Timmy Failure
- Turner & Hooch
- Weird but True!
- Willow
- Wolfgang
- The World According to Jeff Goldblum
- Y: The Last Man
‘Willow,’ ‘Dollface’ Among Dozens of Titles Being Pulled From Disney+, Hulu in Cost-Cutting Move
Disney is pulling at least 50 titles off Disney+ and Hulu, including "Willow" and "Dollface," as early as next week in a cost-cutting move.
variety.com