Disney+ Officially Launches in the UK and More European Countries

[CarlJ]

Content is definitely less than us. No frozen 2, Noelle, Descendants3‘ and only 1 episode of high school musical the series. Also other shows like Andi Mack have reduced episodes

The US got, for example, some Marvel movies and not others. That’s all down to pre-existing licensing agreements - when they expire they’ll all end up on Disney+. (I went through a whole lot of the Disney+ catalog couple days after it released here, and favorited anything that interested me - a surprising number of them had availability dates that were many months away - some a year or more IIRC.)

Presumably some of the same thing is going on in the UK and Europe - if they signed a 3 year contract for UK licensing rights for a particular movie with some UK company, 2 years ago, then they can’t offer it for streaming there for another year - unless they can renegotiate the contract, and said company might demand crazily much more money for that, or may simply refuse to renegotiate.

 

[The Phazer]

The US got, for example, some Marvel movies and not others. That’s all down to pre-existing licensing agreements - when they expire they’ll all end up on Disney+. (I went through a whole lot of the Disney+ catalog couple days after it released here, and favorited anything that interested me - a surprising number of them had availability dates that were many months away - some a year or more IIRC.)

Presumably some of the same thing is going on in the UK and Europe - if they signed a 3 year contract for UK licensing rights for a particular movie with some UK company, 2 years ago, then they can’t offer it for streaming there for another year - unless they can renegotiate the contract, and said company might demand crazily much more money for that, or may simply refuse to renegotiate.

The UK actually has more Marvel movies than the US.

They're holding back on Noelle because it's a Christmas film rather than other contracts.

Frozen 2 isn't coming until July though, due to the existing agreements with Sky. Unclear what will happen with Onward.

 

[SidricTheViking]

Signed up this morning in Ireland (€6.99 per month). Got to see Cars 3 - almost as good as the original! Great to have a service that is both cheaper and more family-friendly that Netflix.

 

[Unami]

Yeah, it's safe to assume that every European wanting to see that show already has.

well, I haven't. another fun fact: The full season of the Mandalorian has already been available fully dubbed in German on the US- Version of Disney+

Not that I care about the dubbed version. Theoretically I could use a VPN to watch it but then I'd have to airplay it to the TV....

 

[2979382]

The catalogue isn't as vast as I hoped it would be. The National Geographic content is particularly limited... 😢

 

[Duncan-UK]

Yep it's a bit disappointing really - I was expecting more ABC material.

Also - early Simpsons in 16:9 - anyone remember when they said this would be fixed for the US?

 

[alexhardaker]

I’m still put off by streaming services. I think it’s because when I was at university I signed up to free trials for Netflix and Amazon prime video & some films I didn’t want to watch at the time were not available a couple of weeks later. Why pay when you can’t watch what you want?

I also don’t understand why people don’t like to own the content anymore. Unfortunately only 3 seasons of The Simpsons is available to purchase on the iTunes Store in the U.K. so I can’t buy them all, but imagine if another company buys the rights to show something for a year or 2. Will that show then disappear from Disney+ for a while? It just seems cheaper in the long run to buy & own the content you want instead of paying to access a library that can change...

 

[lcgarza10]

Disney+ today officially launched in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, and Austria.

The premium streaming service is accessible via web browser, on Amazon Fire devices, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV (4K or HD), iOS devices, Android, Google Chromecast, Xbox One, PS4, and smart TVs from LG, Sony, Samsung, and Vizio. You can download the iPhone and iPad apps here.

The subscription price in the U.K. and across Europe is £5.99/EUR6.99 per month, or £59.99/EUR69.99 for an annual subscription.

Over 500 feature films and over 7,500 shows are available on the service including new original content like the critically acclaimed "The Mandalorian" and "The World According To Jeff Goldblum," along with timeless classics like "Lady and the Tramp," "Star Wars," and the entire Pixar library.

Disney+ has been available in the U.S. for a while now, but subscribers should note that there will be some content differences in the European offering because of licensing issues.

Due to the anticipated high load on the continent's broadband infrastructure because of a surge in remote working, Disney+ is following other digital video services by streaming at an intentionally lowered bitrate, so picture quality won't be as good as some viewers will be expecting.

It's unclear how long Disney intends to limit video quality, but Netflix said last Thursday that it plans to implement similar measures for 30 days, following a request from the European Union.

The launch of Disney+ has been delayed in France by two weeks on request of the French government - Disney+ will now launch in the country the week of April 7.

Disney says the service will launch later this summer in additional Western Europe markets, including Belgium, the Nordics, and Portugal. Disney+ has been available in the Netherlands since September, when it launched there as a pilot trial.

Article Link: Disney+ Officially Launches in the UK and More European Countries

Disney News Latino twitter account just announced they will release Disney+ in Latinoamérica very soon! #mexico 👏🏼

 

[iRobz]

I'm loving it. I had no idea they included extras like deleted scenes and commentaries for their big movie releases. I've always wondered why Netflix didn't embrace commentaries more.

I'm sure they trialed it with Fincher and pilot episode of House of Cards

 

[Duncan-UK]

I’m still put off by streaming services. I think it’s because when I was at university I signed up to free trials for Netflix and Amazon prime video & some films I didn’t want to watch at the time were not available a couple of weeks later. Why pay when you can’t watch what you want?

I also don’t understand why people don’t like to own the content anymore. Unfortunately only 3 seasons of The Simpsons is available to purchase on the iTunes Store in the U.K. so I can’t buy them all, but imagine if another company buys the rights to show something for a year or 2. Will that show then disappear from Disney+ for a while? It just seems cheaper in the long run to buy & own the content you want instead of paying to access a library that can change...

Why would Disney allow another company to buy a property that they own themselves?

 

[compwiz1202]

Yep, not everyone is a thieving scumbag. Just wish we didn’t have this drop in quality right now as it’s definitely having more of an impact on the image quality than it is on the internet infrastructure.

Wonder if Disney+ will actually let customers pick the bitrate once things are back to normal and caps return.

 

[alexhardaker]

Why would Disney allow another company to buy a property that they own themselves?

Money beats all.

 

[Duncan-UK]

Money beats all.

Well thanks for that Socrates...

Disney now have their own streaming platform. Whilst they will have pre-existing arrangements in place to allow other platforms to show their content, these seem all to be coming to an end. The Simpsons is a premium brand. Theres no way in hell they are going to allow it onto another competing platform going forward.

 

[alexhardaker]

Well thanks for that Socrates...

Disney now have their own streaming platform. Whilst they will have pre-existing arrangements in place to allow other platforms to show their content, these seem all to be coming to an end. The Simpsons is a premium brand. Theres no way in hell they are going to allow it onto another competing platform going forward.

so traditional tv will die? They won’t let sky one or channel 4 show the Simpsons at all?

 

[Matthew.H]

The Simpsons is a show that should have been killed off years ago. The new seasons are very poor compared to the early seasons. Just a cash cow these days unfortunately.

 

[The Phazer]

so traditional tv will die? They won’t let sky one or channel 4 show the Simpsons at all?

They will both continue to show The Simpsons. Indeed, it's widely rumoured that Sky have a life of series contract, so Disney literally can't withdraw the rights unless they cancel the show.

But I agree with the poster that you're replying to that Disney deciding to sell *exclusive* streaming rights to the Simpsons (which Sky don't have and never did) to another platform at this point seems extremely unlikely. If Sky don't have the money to do it today it seems very unlikely to decide to spend even more on it in future when the damage it would inflict would be much shorter.

 

[alexhardaker]

They will both continue to show The Simpsons. Indeed, it's widely rumoured that Sky have a life of series contract, so Disney literally can't withdraw the rights unless they cancel the show.

But I agree with the poster that you're replying to that Disney deciding to sell *exclusive* streaming rights to the Simpsons (which Sky don't have and never did) to another platform at this point seems extremely unlikely. If Sky don't have the money to do it today it seems very unlikely to decide to spend even more on it in future when the damage it would inflict would be much shorter.

I just don’t like the idea of something disappearing when you pay monthly to have access to it. It kinda puts me off music steaming too. It’s happened a few times where songs will no longer play because they’re not available.