Disney already has its own streaming service, Disney +, but a new service called Disney Star is coming soon. That announced CEO Bob Chapek. What can we expect from the new streaming service?
On Disney + contains almost the entire range of Walt Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel, but through acquisitions Disney owns the film rights of many more publishers. Rather than bringing those movies and series to Disney +, the company is choosing to launch an additional streaming service next year, Chapek announced.
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At Disney Star we get films and series from ABC Studios, known from Once Upon a Time, Lost and Grey’s Anatomy, but also from Fox Television, FX, Freeform, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight. It remains to be seen which series and films we can expect exactly. Star will only have its own content on offer, in contrast to, for example, Netflix, which purchases content from third parties in addition to its own films and series. For example, various series from FX or Fox can be seen on Netflix, including Family Guy, Sons of Anarchy and Fargo.
It is not yet clear exactly when and in which countries the service will be rolled out. Chapek did express the intention to launch the service internationally. Last year, Disney + first came to the Netherlands, before the streaming service became available for the rest of Europe.
What about Hulu?
Disney also has another streaming service, Hulu, which is currently only available in the United States. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger wanted to roll out Hulu internationally in 2021, but Chapek announced in May of this year that those plans are no longer there.
“We looked at the different ways to enter the international market,” said Chapek. “On Hulu you can mainly see content from third parties, on Star that is own content. In addition, the Hulu brand is not known outside the United States. ” Thus, Disney chose to launch Star rather than roll out Hulu more widely. It is not known whether Hulu will eventually disappear completely and be replaced by Star.
So the question remains what Star has to offer. Will many new films and series become available or will there be a large overlap with the offer of Netflix, for example? The arrival of Star may mean that Netflix has to remove various shows or films from its offer. Time will tell.
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