Disney+ Streaming Platform to Host Entire Disney Motion Picture Library

Friday March 8, 2019 3:36 AM PST by Tim Hardwick
Disney CEO Bob Iger has shared additional details on the company's upcoming Disney+ streaming service, which will compete with Apple's forthcoming digital video platform.

Speaking to shareholders on Thursday, Iger said the Disney service will offer subscribers "the entire Disney motion picture library," and will signal the end of the so-called "Disney Vault".

The service, which I mentioned earlier is going to launch later in the year, is going to combine what we call library product, movies, and television, with a lot of original product as well, movies and television. And at some point fairly soon after launch it will house the entire Disney motion picture library, so the movies that you speak of that traditionally have been kept in a "vault" and brought out basically every few years will be on the service. And then, of course, we're producing a number of original movies and original television shows as well that will be Disney-branded.
As Polygon notes, Disney typically makes individual titles available on home video for limited periods of time. Once a run of a particular movie on DVD and Blu-ray has sold through, Disney returns it to the "Vault" until it's released again.

Iger also said that newer films will find a home on Disney+ within a year of their theatrical release. "It's going to combine both the old and the new," Iger continued. "All of the films that we're releasing this year, [starting] with Captain Marvel, will also be on the service."

Disney+, which will be home to Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel content, is set to launch in "late 2019," more than two years after it was first announced in August 2017.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Apple's upcoming video streaming service and its work on original TV content could spell trouble for Apple board member and Disney CEO Bob Iger, citing the potential for competition between the two companies.

Apple plans to introduce its streaming TV service at a March 25 event but it is expected to launch later in the year.

Tags: Disney, Disney Plus
74 comments

Top Rated Comments

(View all)
Avatar
thederby
11 months ago
The entire library? Including Song of the South ('https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038969/')?
Rating: 13 Votes
Avatar
KPandian1
11 months ago
This a problem for all new online streaming "startups" - not enough new programming that will hook people on for more than two weekend bingeing. Even if most major contributors pull intent from Netflix, they are still ahead.

All the programs that Apple can and will bring in at launch will last most subscribers a weeks watching. After that … reading/watching news clips?

Edit: *original and new programs that Apple can ...
Rating: 9 Votes
Avatar
Bornee35
11 months ago
People leave cable TV due to overpriced packages and fragmented content, moving to a centralized and online Netflix. So what do the companies do? Fragment and decentralize the online content, making it resemble cable tv with multiple subscriptions paying for smaller and different content. How many times do we need to teach you old man?
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
oneMadRssn
11 months ago
This sounds like it will be expensive.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
dmylrea
11 months ago

I really don’t get the contemporary obsession with streaming. Isn’t streaming just a cable / direct tv replacement?

It is cheaper in the long term and more convenient (i.e. watch when you choose) to just buy physical copies of movies / shows you want to view. Better picture and sound (I.e. no compression), no bandwidth limitations, and you can sell or pass on your physical media when you no longer want it.


What math are you using to arrive at cheaper? Ownership of physical media is only cheaper than streaming at low volume consuming. The more content you consume the cheaper streaming becomes. Physical media definitely isn't more convenient. You can stream almost anywhere. Physical media, by and large, is tied to a fixed location. With 4K picture and Dolby sound becoming more prevalent in streaming, the better picture and sound gap is not that significant generally speaking.


Not to mention, how many times do people watch a title that they purchased? 99.9% of the year it sits on their shelf. If I pay $10/mo to stream and watch ten movies, that's $1 per movie. If I buy the title, it's $15-$20 for what? One, maybe two or three watches and it sits, getting dusty and taking up space? I have shelves of physical DVD's that haven't been touched in years. If I stream a movie and can't get through the first 10 minutes and stop, who cares? Can't say the same for a mistaken purchase of a bluray. I'm stuck with it.

People that ask why people stream...do they listen to radio or only listen to whatever music they purchased on CD at a dwindling number of music stores?
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
69Mustang
11 months ago

Not to mention, how many times do people watch a title that they purchased? 99.9% of the year it sits on their shelf. If I pay $10/mo to stream and watch ten movies, that's $1 per movie. If I buy the title, it's $15-$20 for what? One, maybe two or three watches and it sits, getting dusty and taking up space? I have shelves of physical DVD's that haven't been touched in years. If I stream a movie and can't get through the first 10 minutes and stop, who cares? Can't say the same for a mistaken purchase of a bluray. I'm stuck with it.

People that ask why people stream...do they listen to radio or only listen to whatever music they purchased on CD at a dwindling number of music stores?

This. I have over 10 binders of DVD's and Blu-Rays (approx. 5000 discs) that I haven't touched in multiple years. Cartons of CD's collected over the years that haven't seen the light of day in ages. I know that's just my own personal anecdote but I'm pretty sure there are tons of people who are in the exact same circumstance.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
CLS727
11 months ago
Disney+ for how much???

Let me check my Plex. Oh wait, I'm good.







Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
aaronhead14
11 months ago

The entire library? Including Song of the South ('https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038969/')?

I hope so. That's an incredibly important film with so much historical significance. It's a real shame it's never been released on home video.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
oneMadRssn
11 months ago

Iger has previously said it will be around $4.99 per month.


If that's true I would subscribe. But I get the feeling it will be more like $15-20 per month. Disney tends to value their IP very very highly, and usually charges for access accordingly.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
69Mustang
11 months ago

I really don’t get the contemporary obsession with streaming. Isn’t streaming just a cable / direct tv replacement?

It is cheaper in the long term and more convenient (i.e. watch when you choose) to just buy physical copies of movies / shows you want to view. Better picture and sound (I.e. no compression), no bandwidth limitations, and you can sell or pass on your physical media when you no longer want it.

What math are you using to arrive at cheaper? Ownership of physical media is only cheaper than streaming at low volume consuming. The more content you consume the cheaper streaming becomes vs ownership. Physical media definitely isn't more convenient. You can stream almost anywhere. Physical media, by and large, is tied to a fixed location. With 4K picture and Dolby sound becoming more prevalent in streaming, the better picture and sound gap is not that significant generally speaking.
Rating: 2 Votes
[ Read All Comments ]