Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, will now launch a week earlier in the UK and Western Europe. The new streamer has been steadily building up its subscription base since launching in North America this past November. So far, the future looks bright for the service and its content.
In the months leading up to the launch of Disney+, much was said regarding the ongoing competition from streaming champ Netflix, as well as other key services launching from Apple, HBO and NBCUniversal, to name but a few. Given its commanding presence in the entertainment industry, few doubted Disney would have much of a problem acquiring subscribers for a platform that has been quite soundly dominated by Netflix over the past decade. This being said, Disney+ had staked its claim from the start as a family friendly service, and despite having licensing rights to very popular franchises such as Star Wars, The Simpsons and the Marvel catalogue, there was no shortage of those who felt that sticking with Netflix was the better option. So far, Disney+ has been a definite pleasure for Star Wars fans, given the popularity of The Mandalorian, but the service does have its fair share of critics as well - especially now that The Mandalorian has finished its first season.
While North Americans (and nations such as Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands) have already had a couple of months to test out Disney+, residents of many Western European nations and the United Kingdom have been patiently waiting for their chance to do the same. Originally slated to launch at the end of March 2020 in the aforementioned key markets, Variety is now reporting that Disney+ will hit the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland a week earlier than expected. The official release date is now slated for March 24.
Though a global brand that has smashed box office records the world over, Disney hasn’t always had an easy relationship with the European market. After the opening of what is today known as Disneyland Paris back in 1992, there were several years of real financial trouble, with the park brought to the brink of bankruptcy. Disney managed to turn things around, of course, but the entire incident was an example of a successful American business model not necessarily finding that same success abroad. It’s much harder today, however, to imagine Disney having similar troubles with Disney+, but then again success in some markets does not always guarantee success in others, regardless of how big the corporation is.
At present, we still don’t know the exact financial take for Disney+ since it kicked off, but in America alone, the subscription numbers were estimated to be in the region of 24 million by the end of November 2019. The numbers for the December quarter are due to arrive in February, and from the look of things so far, Disney has a firm but not undefeatable grasp on the streaming market. It will certainly be interesting to see where the future takes the service, especially given its family-friendly stance at a time when most of the biggest hit films and TV programs are anything but.
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Source: Variety
