Disney Plus and How It Will Affect the Film and Television Industry
Every few decades, there is a shift within the film industry because new technology is constantly being developed. From silent films of the past to streaming services now, the way we watch movies and television series has changed dramatically. Being that I am a teenager, I have seen these changes myself, from putting tapes in my VCR to now simply going to the Netflix app on my phone to catch up on the latest show I have been binge-watching. But now, there’s a new competitor that has stepped into the streaming industry, a company that most people cannot ignore: Disney.
On November 12th, 2019, the Walt Disney Company launched their new streaming platform called Disney Plus. Disney Plus is an ad-free streaming service that Disney fans, young and old, have been waiting for. Users can watch all of Disney’s family-friendly content from companies like Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and National Geographic with some other television series like The Simpsons. Because of this new and exciting launch of Disney Plus, the streaming industry is becoming bigger and bigger, but now, there is a decline within the film and television industry.
With Disney Plus entering the streaming industry, competitors like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, have taken a big hit since many Disney movies and television series were on their platforms. Disney Plus took a large number of popular titles from its competitors and also took a smart approach by having a low amount of seven dollars a month for their streaming services, which is lower than Netflix and other competitors. Not only is the low price and a large amount of movies attracting audiences, but the way Disney Plus is designed as a whole reels viewers in. Being that the Walt Disney Company is one of the most successful movie companies in the world, you can already guess that Disney Plus has a powerful infrastructure. It allows fast loading speeds and there have been no hardly any technical problems, with the exception of it crashing on the day it was launched because of millions of viewers checking out the service. Disney Plus appeals to viewers by showing exactly what it has to offer: big named companies, cheap cost, fast speeds, and rarely any problems. In this video, we are told about how the name Disney means something to people unlike the other competitors and that they needed to excite investors:
This strategy was what Bob Iger wanted for this service. In this clip, Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, talks about his hopes with Disney Plus.
Iger says, “There’s nothing like it out there.” Bob Iger knew how big and bold this move to the streaming industry was, but Disney needed to make the jump into the streaming industry. In Iger’s recent memoir “The Ride of a Lifetime,” he constantly brings up on how big he is on innovation. He even discusses how Disney needed to innovate and branch off into the streaming industry. He also states that “while streaming video is hastening the disruption of the company’s core businesses like film and TV, it’s allowed Disney to fully commit to a new and innovative business path” (Pallotta).
So yes, Disney Plus is a great, new service for consumers and the company itself. But what does Disney Plus mean for the film and television industry as a whole? The film and television industry are a huge part of our lives today, but the way we watch movies and television series is changing. Most people are turning towards streaming services and cutting off from viewing films in theaters and not using cable. Because people were distancing away from these two big industries, they are beginning to take a hit from the lack of views and cable subscriptions. For the film industry, “studios are releasing fewer films in theaters” (Barnes). Because film companies are not releasing movies as often as they did in past years, streaming services are launching ahead and collecting the revenue that the film industry once got. For example, this graph shows that in recent years, movie theater attendance has begun to drop while streaming has started to increase higher and higher as the years go on.
You might ask what the reasons are for this drop within the film industry, but the answer is that people would rather spend a monthly payment and watch as many movies as they want from the comfort of their own home rather than go to the movies anymore. It also does not help the industry either now that streaming services like Netflix are creating their own original movies that are becoming huge successes and even being nominated for Oscars. Because of this drastic decline, Disney had to adapt and create Disney Plus. With the recent release of Disney Plus, by next year, we can probably expect more Disney movies on the platform, having people to just wait and see the movie until it goes on the platform. The film industry had to deal with competitors before, but now, Disney Plus is challenging them in a new way that will be hard to defeat being that Disney is as big of a company as it is.
Although, the television industry also has had a slow decline for years being that audiences are turning towards watching a full television series that has all the episodes on a streaming service than tuning in each week to watch a new episode. Waiting each week for an episode is time that people do not want to commit to anymore, but people can commit to a show during their free time. This causes people to subscribe to streaming services because it’s easily accessible through their phone and that is how streaming services get you. “It expects commitment — and gets it” (Poniewozik). Another issue that the television industry has to deal with is cord-cutting. Cord-cutting is when people stop paying for cable packages all together and start using the internet for television. Cord-cutting has increased with the rise of new streaming services and it will only continue to increase with new technology being introduced every year. As seen in the graph, 2018 is the first year that a higher percentage of households subscribe to a streaming service than pay traditional television. Now, with Disney Plus in the mix, the television industry has to work harder than before to try to get audiences to stay with their cable packages. Disney Plus is expected to have movies, but also television series on their platform which is going to challenge both industries to innovate just like Disney had to innovate.
So how will the film and television industry adapt from the emergence of Disney Plus? I believe both industries have to become more creative with the material they produce. Both industries have to come up with better content to bring people into the theaters again or to stay with their cable subscriptions. They could also go the classic route and go with cheaper costs within both industries. However, since that is a hard possibility being that people are attracted to new technology, what if the film and television industry innovated and created a service where movies and television series premiered through their own streaming service? The service would have the content premiere like they would in theaters or on television and then they could be saved on the service to watch again. This service would create people from not having to go to theaters or plan their night around a show, but also allows both industries to gather data about what people really want to see.
Time and technology is constantly changing and Disney Plus is a good example of that. We have seen streaming services before, but this service is different. Disney Plus is the first streaming service ran by a movie company and the film and television industries have to challenge it head-on and innovate quickly before they both decline any more than they already have.
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