Back in 2012, when the idea of online media streaming was still more of a niche novelty, Disney forged a streaming distribution partnership with Netflix, whose services would eventually grow to be the biggest fish in the streaming pond. It is hard to believe, but the actual availability of Disney media (and Pixar, and Lucasfilm) on the Netflix streaming menu only went active in September of 2016. That was four years of waiting, but it was so worth it at the time. However, less than a year into the launch of the Netflix-Disney deal, the House of Mouse has decided to move on from the streaming juggernaut in order to start their own.
Ending too soon
When Disney had its most recent earnings report on Tuesday August 8, they dropped a major bombshell concerning the streaming of their movies as well as most of those by their subsidiaries. By the year 2019, according to CEO Bob Iger, the company will be launching their own online streaming service that will start off in the US and then expand their reach worldwide in true Disney fashion. It also means that by the end of 2018, all Disney films and TV shows currently available for streaming on Netflix will be pulled. End of story.
Well, not exactly. While everything on Netflix made by Disney, Pixar and Lucasfilm will no longer be on Netflix starting on 2019, one of its arms will continue in the spirit of the partnership first signed by the two companies five years ago: Marvel Television.
Their current stable of Marvel character series – Daredevil, Jessica Jones, etc. – as well as any new seasons or shows in that vein of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will remain as is on the platform where they started out. This arrangement works if the general atmosphere of Disney’s future streaming services is any indication.
Streaming Disney
Disney has been one of the most stringent media empires in the world when it comes to giving access to their content. Aside from cinema or cable viewings, most consumers are pretty much forced to buy their media, as they are often taboo for video rental chains. In a way, opening their own exclusive streaming platform is the path by which the House of Mouse will continue raking in profits by going with the trend of today.
The planned Disney streaming service post-Netflix will use systems developed by MLB-funded platform BAMTech, of which the company is already a major investor of. Next on the agenda is the House of Mouse buying up a majority stake in BAMTech to keep their streaming resources on hand.
