In 2006, senior Disney executives predicted an enormous shift in the media industry. They predicted that the modern media would consist of things that have never been done before, and their plan was to gather big franchises and entertainment brands as bait to capture the attention of the viewers.
The goal was to provide variety in the content, to present the consumer with so many choices that everyone would be able to find something that they like to watch.
Game of Franchises
It should be noted that this video-on-demand concept had been predicted by Disney more than a decade before Netflix surpassed it to become perhaps the most favored digital media company in the world. In 2018, Netflix officially beat Disney and became the most-preferred medium of entertainment, if only for a brief amount of time, largely due to the vast variety of content it offers to its consumers.
However, Disney still has a good chance of beating Netflix by capitalizing on the content being made by its franchises. These franchises include Lucasfilm, Marvel Entertainment, and 21st Century Fox. It is pertinent to note that these big franchises are going to become the pillars for Disney’s planned streaming service that is soon going to be launched under the name of Disney+.
According to expert analysts, these franchises, along with Disney’s blockbuster hits, are going to give an edge to Disney+ in the highly competitive streaming market and help it attract subscribers, especially after it pulls their content from Netflix.
Disney’s Future Plans
According to the domestic box office, both Fox and Disney own 47% of the top hundred movies of all time. That is twice as compared to Warner Bros., which has only twenty hits. Disney and Fox combined also rule the top hundred TV shows list by IMDB.
Reportedly, Disney plans to exclusively broadcast original Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars films on their streaming service. This will also include the live-action series of Star Wars known as The Mandalorian.
Furthermore, Disney also plans to stream an animated series of Monsters At Work, and another series on Marvel’s character Hawkeye. Michael Nathanson, a media analyst, predicts that the combination of Fox and Disney will introduce some great, unique, and memorable content for the viewers, further predicting that Disney+ will be able to attract 7.1 million people in the first year and will grow up to almost 24 million subscribers by 2022.
Content versus Technology
No matter what happens, the question of whether Disney’s content will be able to beat Netflix’s finesse especially pertaining to technology still remains relevant. Netflix has been able to attract its millions of subscribers through expertise in utilizing the user data for delivering correct recommendations. This sole technique has kept their 139 million subscribers hooked up till now.
Disney’s attempt in the digital side of things has not worked so well in the past. For example, the company introduced a streaming service called DisneyLife in the UK which failed to attract subscribers, even though the streaming service was not only affordable but also provided access to 4000 episodes, books, songs, and 400 movies.
Brian Wieser, an expert media analyst, has predicted that Disney’s success depends on the amount Disney is willing to invest in Disney+. The higher the investment, the greater the chance it has of competing with giants like Amazon and Netflix.