Disney
officially announced that it’s making its own Netflix competitor, a streaming service that will air original Disney movies and TV shows. The giant media company isn’t stopping there, as it plans to launch a second Netflix-like offering that will deliver sporting events.
Disney reported lackluster third-quarter earnings that show the company is hurt in the TV cable business. According to The LA Times Disney’s media networks unit took a 22% hit compared to last year, with the media giant attributing the loss to a higher priced new NBA TV contract and lower advertising revenue.
It’s not surprising that Disney wants to directly compete with Netflix and other streaming services, given that more people opt to ditch traditional cable in favor of online entertainment.
“No one is better positioned to lead the industry into this dynamic new era, and we’re accelerating our strategy to be at the forefront of this transformation,” said during a conference call.
The Disney TV streaming service will only launch in 2019, while the ESPN-based service would be available as soon as next year.
As for the relationship with Netflix, Disney said that it will terminate the licensing agreement for new titles beginning with the 2019 calendar year. However, Disney shows like Jessica Jones would still be available on Netflix.
That means popular franchises like Star Wars and the Marvel cinematic universe, Disney’s animation films including Pixar titles, and all the other Disney blockbuster hits the company releases every year will slowly disappear from Netflix.
It’s unclear at this time how much Disney’s newly announced streaming services will cost, but these projects sound pretty exciting. After all, Disney may turn out to be a massive force in this particular business, and more competition for Netflix could be good news for consumers.
