The Walt Disney Company recently announced the launch of its streaming television service, Disney+. The company said on Monday, 19th August 2019, that Disney+ will debut in November in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

It will offer film and TV entertainment. This includes its “Star Wars” and Marvel franchise. It also includes its ABC content and an extensive library acquired from 21st Century Fox. In essence, Disney+ hopes to be a major challenger to Netflix.

 

It will launch in Canada, the Netherlands, and the US on 12th November 2019. In Australia and New Zealand, Disney+ will launch a week later. The company also said it hopes to expand to most major markets within the following two years.

 

The entertainment giant also announced deals for Disney+ to be available on Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku and Sony internet-linked devices.

 

Chief executive Bob Iger said, during a recent earnings call, that the company would take advantage of its control of Hulu to bundle an ad-supported version of the streaming television service with Disney+ and ESPN in the US for a monthly subscription price of $12.99.

 

Iger said Disney was “focused on leveraging Fox’s vast library of great titles… for example reimagining ‘Home Alone,’ ‘Night at the Museum,’ ‘Cheaper by the Dozen,’ and ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ for a new generation on Disney+.”

 

 

Former Fox superhero film franchises including “X-Men,” “Fantastic 4” and “Deadpool” will now come under the Marvel umbrella, Iger said, adding that parent company Disney sees “great long-term value” in the titles.

 

The increasingly competitive TV streaming marketplace will soon feature HBO Max, Apple and NBCUniversal platforms as well as Netflix and Amazon Prime.

 

Disney+ will launch at a subscription price of $6.99 monthly in the US.