Bob Iger, Chairman, and CEO of Walt Disney Company revealed the name and some details of its streaming platform that will reach the US at the end of 2019, Disney+, as well as the fate of Hulu, commented Variety.
Disney+ will have the company´s most renowned license content: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, that will join the Disney portfolio through the pending acquisition of 21st Century Fox for US$71.3 billion.
Likewise, Disney´s production arms are accelerating original content production to launch it together with Disney+, including the new series linked to Rogue One, with Diego Luna, and a documentary that describes in an unprecedented manner the internal operations of Walt Disney Imagineering.
The service will offer “unprecedented access” to Disney’s film library and television programs said Iger, who also mentioned that the licenses ceded to Netflix will not be renovated and that their new productions will belong exclusively to Disney+. The company will make a presentation for investors in April to offer more details and a first glance at the service.
He also covered briefly the plans for Hulu, the broadcasting service, 60% of which will be controlled by Disney, once the purchase of Fox next year is completed. Hulu will remain focused on general entertainment, whereas Disney+ will do so on the family material. He also mentioned that the intention is to expand Hulu internationally, as well as increase the price of the cable television package, Hulu. He also revealed that they are planning to make Disney+ a global service of the future.
“If we create the television studio we expect to create, we are going to have an engine in the company, coming from several entities. We will be able to provide Hulu a large amount of high-quality content, plus what they already have.”