Disney+ Streaming Service: 18 Things you need to know

Disney, the entertainment conglomerate, just announced its own over-the-top subscription video-on-demand service, Disney+, at its Investor Day event in Burbank, California. The company has been talking about launching a streaming service for some time now, and now, the wait is finally over. With Disney+, users will be able to access content across a huge library of Disney’s films and TV shows along with some originals from Star Wars and Marvel. It is slated to go live on November 12, this year, in the US, followed by a global rollout soon after.

Here are 18 things that you might need to know about Disney+:

1. Disney+ will go live in the US on November 12 this year.
2. The pricing for Disney+ starts at $6.99 per month and $69.99 per year.
3. After its launch in North America in Q4 of 2019, Disney+ will roll out to Western Europe and in Asia-Pacific regions starting in Q4 and early 2020 and in Eastern Europe and Latin America starting at the end of 2020.
4. Upon opening the app, users are greeted with a catalog of a series of content including TV shows, Movies, and other original content from various genres and franchises including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, similar to the catalog you see on Netflix.
5. Users will be able to stream Disney+ content through mobiles, tablets, smart TVs, gaming consoles, connected streaming devices, and web browsers. Additionally, the company has also sealed a deal with Roku and Sony for availing content on their platforms.
6. All of the Disney+ content will be available for offline download.
7. Users with a 4K HDR supported TV can enjoy the content of Disney+ in 4K HDR.
8. Disney+ will be an ad-free service and will generate revenue off of subscription fees.
9. Disney+ will allow users to create individual profiles according to their viewing preferences for their family members including a child profile for their kids.
10. On the day of launch, Disney+ will include 7,500 episodes of current and off-air TV shows, 25 original series and 10 original movies and specials, 400 library movie titles, and 100 recent theatrical films release.
11. Disney CFO, Christine McCarthy expects a user base of 60 million to 90 million subscribers for Disney+ from around the world at the end of the year 2024.
12. Disney will spend $1 billion in cash on original programming for Disney+ in the year 2020.
13. With Disney owning 60% of Hulu, it is expecting the launch of the service in other international markets.
14. Disney+ will be the exclusive video-on-demand subscription service for new releases from Walt Disney Studios, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel.
15. Most of Disney’s film library will be available in the first year of the launch of Disney+. In addition, it will also include 250 hours of NatGeo content with a huge variety of documentaries and shows to choose from.
16. After a certain period of time in the future, the company is expected to provide a discounted bundle of services including Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu.
17. Disney will spend $1 billion in cash on original programming for Disney+ in the year 2020 which is expected to rise to around $2.5 billion by 2024.
18. In comparison to other popular streaming services like Netflix and HBO Now, the subscription rates for Disney+ have been priced competitively with just $6.99 a month compared to $12.99 for Netflix and $14.99 for HBO Now.