Disney Officially Announces the Name and Details of Their Upcoming Streaming Service

Disney is on the precipice of owning virtually every property people care about in this day and age, so it makes perfect sense that they'd launch their own streaming service to compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and the like. Since Disney announced that they would be dipping their toes in the streaming waters, however, details have been scant at best.

Enter this new piece in Variety which gives us some of the first details on what's apparently going to be known as Disney Play. According to this lengthy article, Disney CEO Bob Iger has deemed Disney Play “the biggest priority of the company during calendar [year] 2019.” Iger admits, however, that because certain Disney properties are tied up in deals with other entertainment platforms—like their deal with Turner that gives the cable network exclusive television rights to Star Wars through 2022—they're going to be focusing on quality over quantity at launch.

This is usually what someone says when they're not able to deliver a ton of quantity, and is almost never true, but Disney has one major advantage. They're going to offer their services at a lower price, at least to start...

Disney is counting on the exclusivity factor of selected Marvel, “Star Wars,” Pixar and Disney-branded properties to drive interest in the service. Iger has acknowledged that the Disney Play price tag will be less than Netflix’s $8-$14 monthly fee — a reflection of the lighter content load.

I suppose it's nice to know that Disney won't be the big man on campus for once, as they're coming late to the streaming game, but it'll be very interesting to watch what happens as rights to their various properties begin reverting to them and popping up on their service. Grab some popcorn, because the fun starts in 2019.