Walt Disney Co. is confronting Netflix with its
biggest threat yet in an intensifying battle for video
streaming supremacy.
The House of the Mouse will bring a
treasured film library along with nearly
a century of entertainment experience
when it launches its long-awaited
Disney Plus streaming service in
November. What’s more, Disney
Plus initially will cost just $7
per month, nearly 50 percent
less than Netflix’s most
popular plan.
Disney had already been
steadily increasing its
programming budget for years. It
also recently completed a $71 billion
acquisition of Fox’s entertainment business.
Meanwhile, Netflix has spent tens of billions on
programming during the past six years while
expanding to nearly 149 million worldwide
subscribers.
Disney expects to reach as many as
90 million subscribers within five years
of its service’s debut. It took Netflix
nearly a decade to hit that figure.
What’s unclear is whether Disney will
make as much money selling streaming
subscriptions as it once did
licensing its programming to
Netflix and other companies.
Investors have endorsed Disney’s
strategy recently by propelling the
company’s stock to all-time highs.