Disney+

Disney+ Set to Launch in U.S. Market on November 12 at $6.99/Month

Denise

Hi everyone!

Yesterday, Disney announced Disney+, an upcoming digital subscription service that debuts on November 12th, 2019. The initial price is just $6.99 per month or $70 for a year – not much more than a drink at Starbucks for a full month of programming. This will include films like Frozen 2 after it runs in theaters, Captain Marvel and so many more – plus original content and even 30 seasons of The Simpsons. Netflix has been the first place to see Disney movies after their run in the theaters, and Disney+ will be taking over. I have had Netflix for about 20 years and plan to keep it, but the initial price point on Disney+ is very attractive and I look forward to adding to our subscriptions. Read more below!

BURBANK, Calif. — The Walt Disney Company today presented an extensive overview of its comprehensive direct-to-consumer strategy, including presentations on Hulu, Hotstar, ESPN+, and the upcoming Disney+ service at its highly-anticipated Investor Day, which took place on the Company’s studio lot.  

The Investor Day event featured remarks from The Walt Disney Company’s senior management team, including Robert A. Iger, chairman and chief executive officer; Kevin Mayer, chairman, Direct-to-Consumer and International; Christine McCarthy, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer; Lowell Singer, senior vice president, Investor Relations; and Jimmy Pitaro, president, ESPN and co-chair, Disney Media Networks. The event also featured presentations by Michael Paull, president, Disney Streaming Services; Randy Freer, chief executive officer, Hulu; Russell Wolff, executive vice president and general manager, ESPN+; Uday Shankar, president, The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and chairman, Star and Disney India; Ricky Strauss, president, Content and Marketing, Disney+; and Agnes Chu, senior vice president, Content, Disney+.

“Disney+ marks a bold step forward in an exciting new era for our company – one in which consumers will have a direct connection to the incredible array of creative content that is The Walt Disney Company’s hallmark. We are confident that the combination of our unrivaled storytelling, beloved brands, iconic franchises, and cutting-edge technology will make Disney+ a standout in the marketplace, and deliver significant value for consumers and shareholders alike,” Mr. Iger said.

During today’s presentation, the Company unveiled a first look at the Disney+ offering, which will launch in the U.S. on November 12, 2019 at $6.99 per month. The service will offer fans of all ages a new way to experience the unparalleled content from the Company’s iconic entertainment brands, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, and will be available on connected TV and mobile devices. 

Home of Great Storytelling

The Investor Day event also featured presentations by several of the creative executives behind Disney+’s impressive and extensive content slate, including: Jennifer Lee, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios; Pete Docter, chief creative officer, Pixar Animation Studios; Kathleen Kennedy, president, Lucasfilm; Kevin Feige, president, Marvel Studios; Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Channels Worldwide; Sean Bailey, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Productions; Courteney Monroe, president, National Geographic Global Television Networks; and Jon Favreau, executive producer and writer, “The Mandalorian.”

In addition to its robust library of theatrical and television content, in its first year Disney+ will release more than 25 original series and 10 original films, documentaries, and specials by some of the industry’s most prolific and creative storytellers. New original titles for Disney+ announced today include:

Marvel Studios:

  • “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” live-action series with Anthony Mackie returning as Falcon and Sebastian Stan reprising his role as Winter Soldier
  • “WandaVision” live-action series with Elizabeth Olsen returning as Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany reprising his role as The Vision 
  • “Marvel’s What If…?,” the first animated series from Marvel Studios, taking inspiration from the comic books of the same name. Each episode will explore a pivotal moment from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and turn it on its head, leading the audience into uncharted territory

Walt Disney Animation Studios:

  • “Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2” documentary series showing the hard work and imagination that go into making one of the most highly-anticipated Walt Disney Animation Studios features

Pixar Animation Studios:

  • Toy Story-based projects, “Forky Asks a Question” animated short series and “Lamp Life” short film

National Geographic:

  • “The World According to Jeff Goldblum” documentary series where Jeff pulls back the curtain on a seemingly familiar object to reveal a world of astonishing connections, fascinating science, and a whole lot of big ideas
  • “Magic of the Animal Kingdom” documentary series which takes viewers behind the scenes with the highly respected animal-care experts, veterinarians, and biologists at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Epcot’s SeaBase aquarium

Disney Television Animation:

  • “The Phineas and Ferb Movie” (working title) animated film featuring many of the original voice cast

These titles will join previously announced scripted originals including “The Mandalorian,” the world’s first scripted live-action Star Wars series, the exclusive new season of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” the untitled Cassian Andor series starring Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk, the Marvel Studios series “Loki” starring Tom Hiddleston, “Monsters at Work,” “Diary of a Female President,” and live-action films “Lady and the Tramp,” “Noelle,” “Togo,” Timmy Failure” and “Stargirl.” Nonfiction series also announced earlier this week include “Be Our Chef,” “Cinema Relics: Iconic Art of the Movies (wt),” “Earthkeepers (wt),” “Encore!,” the untitled Walt Disney Imagineering documentary series, “Marvel’s 616,” “Marvel’s Hero Project,” “(Re)Connect,” “Rogue Trip,” and “Shop Class (wt).”

Additionally, Disney+ announced that all 30 seasons of “The Simpsons” will be available on the service on day one. In year one, audiences will also have access to family-friendly Fox titles like “The Sound of Music,” “The Princess Bride,” and “Malcolm in the Middle.”  This content will join an impressive collection of more than 7,500 television episodes and 500 films including blockbuster hits from 2019 and beyond.

“We’re extremely excited about our growing portfolio of direct-to-consumer offerings.  As we demonstrated today, with Disney+ we will deliver extraordinary entertainment in innovative ways to audiences around the world,” said Mr. Mayer.  “We’ll continue to enhance the user experience with a constant pipeline of high-quality programming, making the service even more appealing to consumers.”

High-Quality Consumer Experience

Designed to super-serve the most ardent fans, Disney+ will provide subscribers with a feature-rich product experience that makes it easy to navigate, discover, and watch their favorite programming with immersive brand tiles and dedicated pages for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Subscribers will have the ability to create custom profiles with each receiving personalized experiences curated to their unique tastes based on past behaviors and preferred content.

The Disney+ service will be available on a wide range of mobile and connected TV devices, including gaming consoles, streaming media players, and smart TVs, and will adjust to the best possible high definition viewing experience based on a subscriber’s available bandwidth, with support for up to 4K HDR video playback. Fans will also have access to an unprecedented amount of content for offline viewing.

Following its U.S debut, Disney+ will rapidly expand globally, with plans to be in nearly all major regions of the world within the next two years.

Visit DisneyPlus.com to register your email and be kept up to date on the service.

About Disney+

Launching in late 2019, Disney+ will be the ultimate streaming destination for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. From The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International segment, Disney+ will offer ad-free programming with a variety of original feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series and short-form content, along with unprecedented access to Disney’s incredible library of film and television entertainment. The service will also be the exclusive streaming home for films released by The Walt Disney Studios in 2019 and beyond, including “Captain Marvel,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Aladdin,” “Toy Story 4,” “The Lion King,” “Frozen 2,”and “Star Wars: Episode IX.”

About Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International

Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment includes Disney’s international media operations stretching from Europe to Asia to Latin America and the Company’s direct-to-consumer streaming businesses, including the upcoming Disney+ service set to debut in the U.S. in late 2019 and ESPN+ which was launched in April 2018. DTCI also houses global advertising sales and ad technology for Disney media properties which include ABC, ESPN, Freeform, FX Networks, National Geographic, and the Disney Channels. The Company’s content sales operations—including global distribution of film and TV content to Disney+, Hulu and other third-party platforms, as well as Movies Anywhere—are also part of the Direct-to-Consumer & International business segment.

About The Walt Disney Company

Disney, together with its subsidiaries, is a diversified worldwide entertainment company with operations in four business segments: Media Networks; Parks, Experiences and Products; Studio Entertainment; and Direct-to-Consumer and International. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenues of $59.4 billion in its Fiscal Year 2018. For more information about Disney, please visit www.thewaltdisneycompany.com.

Forward Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements may include expectations regarding our products including pricing, programming, functionality, timing, geographic availability and other statements.  Forward-looking statements herein may contain words such as “will,” similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words.  These statements are made on the basis of management’s views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance as of the time the statements are made. Management does not undertake any obligation to update these statements. Actual events may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Such differences may result from actions taken by the Company, as well as from developments beyond the Company’s control, including changes in competitive conditions; consumer preferences; international, political, health concern and military developments; and changes in domestic and global economic conditions that may affect our businesses generally. Additional factors are set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 29, 2018 under Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and subsequent reports.