Disney has today launched its subscription streaming service in the UK. Our Martin Radford, director of media, comments:
Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future, said Yoda. Disney+ launch plans were made at a very different time. An ad-free platform which many will see as offering a superior library to Netflix should be a huge draw to UK households where streaming services penetration is about 60% of US levels. There, 3 months after launching, it has 28.6m subscribers, 3.6m ahead of Wall Street expectations. It is cheaper than Netflix, a vast array of films (Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar etc.) and TV series (The Simpsons, High School Musical) have pulling power alongside more flexible account sharing. Its core audience should be younger, family types – ideal data fountains to constantly be pushed the Disney brand. UK Google searches are on the rise.
Fast forward to today’s turmoil, the world is very different but uptake should be swift. It’s a natural babysitter (with perfect timing) and will work well as a first or additional service. Pressures in the economy will force many to rationalise options and look at others first.
To infinity and beyond? Not quite, but there will be others more fearful of hearing the sound of the Imperial March.”
To read the article in full on Mediatel, please click here.
First featured on 24/03/2020.
