Disney throws a glove in the war on Netflix

The battle is launched. Walt Disney Co. brings its biggest weapons to a new streaming service, including "Star Wars" and Marvel superheroes, as part of a deadly war with Netflix and others for the domination of television.

The multimedia entertainment giant announced that its Disney + streaming service would be launched in November in the United States and gradually extended to the international.

Subscriptions for the new service are expected to start at $ 6.99 a month, less than the $ 8.99 most basic Netflix leader.

Disney + is full of blockbuster movies and television shows from the Disney Library, including the recently acquired badets of 21st Century Fox.

This includes shows and movies from Pixar animation studios, the Marvel superhero franchise like "Spider Man" and "Captain America", National Geographic documentaries and of course the "Star Wars" series.

Disney announced that it would include the 30 seasons of "The Simpsons", family titles like "The Sound of Music". "and" Malcolm in the Middle "and his next series" The Space Mandra "," The Mandalorian ".

According to badysts, the announcement of Disney shows that she does not grant any quarter while she's fighting Netflix, Amazon's Prime V ideo, Hulu and an upcoming Apple service.

"The biggest surprise was the price: $ 6.99 a month, which was well below what a lot of people were waiting for, "said Alan Wolk, co-founder of consulting firm TVREV 19659005]" It's also ad-free, which was unexpected because it was generally agreed that they would opt for a model Hybrid Hulu style, with ad-supported options and no ads. "

Wolk said the programming" That's exactly what you expect from Disney and will appeal to families with kids. "

Wolk stated that the content of this service would mean that the new service would not compete with Hulu, 60% owned by Disney. [19659005] The movement" allows them to position Hulu as their most moderate adult offer , "he said.

Disney predicted that it will record 60 to 90 million users by five years ago.

Some badysts said It is expected what the new Disney service is growing rapidly and ultimately exceeds the 140 million Netflix subscribers worldwide.

'Smaller but deeper'

L & rsquo; Analyst Neil Macker of Morningstar said that Disney "was swaying at its investors day with an aggressive price" for its streaming service.

"We were pleasantly surprised by the content. Macker said: "Levels lower than Netflix, we think the Disney + library will be deeper in terms of quality."

CFRA Research's Tuna Amobi announced that Disney + would launch with "an unparalleled lineup of branded television / motion picture content" and as a result "could change the game in a rapidly evolving continuous landscape."

Amobi said that Disney could also "bundle" its new product with Hulu and ESPN +, its recently launched sports streaming service, offers consumers a wider choice of content.

But some badysts say their competitors will not be caught off guard and that more agile Internet companies are likely to take them away.

Richard Greenfield of BTIG Research Not He added that the Disney business could be affected by a long theatrical "window" that keeps movies from running continuously for months and by long-standing agreements offering to its competitors part of its content.

"We wonder how the company will explain what is or is not available on Disney + both at home and abroad," Greenfield said in a research note. "Will consumers understand that a new Marvel movie is available in movie theaters, but not on Disney + for eight months?"

Winning the War

John Meyer, an badyst at the Transpire Ventures investment company, said Netflix still has the advantage in the market.

million. Meyer said Disney could "carve out a small niche" among families and young viewers, but does not pose a serious threat to Netflix.

"Netflix knows what people want more than anyone," Meyer said.

"After all, it's a technology company at the heart and with enormous power thanks to the data it captures on its millions of subscribers, which helps them to design the original content to create "[19659005] Laura Martin, an badyst at Needham & Co., disagrees, saying that Disney, with its well-known brands and franchises, will eventually overwhelm Netflix.

"We think Netflix can not win" in such a war, because of Disney's financial advantage of owning a vast amount of content.

"Disney products ch 100 million households a year, which reduces the cost of acquiring Disney customers," said Martin in a note addressed to customers.

Martin stated that, as part of a survey, US customers state that they only use two or three streaming services. , any growth of Disney + will significantly weaken Netflix.

© 2019 AFP