Disney+ streaming service launch a screaming success, competes with Netflix

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Credit: Allie Nunn

Junior Luke Tacelli scrolls through the Disney+ page in the media center. “If I got Disney+, I would be excited to watch the old shows and movies that remind me of my childhood,” Tacelli said. “I liked all the Marvel movies, ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ and also ‘Tron’ and ‘Big Hero Six.’”

Allie Nunn

Netflix lovers, meet the new streaming service that hit 10 million subscribers in a matter of hours. After years of preparation, The Walt Disney Co. launched its first streaming service: Disney+. Disney+ consists of an endless selection of legacy content produced by Disney and Fox, as well as new exclusive movies, television bundles, documentaries and more.

“I was really excited when I found out about it,” senior Arden Knapp said. “I definitely wanted to get an account right away just because it sort of brings you back to your childhood, and I think it’s a really good idea because Netflix does offer a lot of things, but not specific [Disney things].”

Disney’s new streaming service met its one-month goal on the first day of the launch by hitting 10 million subscribers in under 24 hours. Even though Disney+ had few technical errors on the day of the launch, that did not stop users from signing up and subscribing.

“I’m honestly not that surprised that they hit 10 million subscribers just because I think they did such a good job with advertising [on] social media. A lot of people were like, ‘Oh yeah, this is a new thing,’ and everyone hopped onto the bandwagon,” Knapp said.

Compared to Netflix, Disney+ offers a lower monthly price for the streaming service. A regular Disney+ subscription is $6.99 per month, while a regular Netflix subscription is $8.99 per month. Similarly, the Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ subscription bundle is $12.99 per month; comparatively, the Netflix premium plan in $15.99 per month.

Even though the price is higher, Netflix includes a wide range of options and many popular original shows and movies.

“I like the [wide] range of options and how Netflix adds new things for certain times of the year. It is also really convenient, and I am used to it,” senior Michayla Mathis said.

Following the Disney+ launch, Disney and Verizon partnered up; all Verizon Unlimited customers will receive a free 12 month Disney+ trial on Verizon.

“I think that it’s a really good idea to partner up with Verizon,” Knapp said. “It’s something that will bring a lot of people in and then those Verizon users can tell their friends who maybe don’t have Verizon and they can spread the word about how amazing Disney+ is.”

Disney+ has a wide variety of over 7,500 episodes of old Disney-branded shows and hundreds of Disney, Marvel and Pixar movies.

“At first I was like, ‘Dang, Disney’s trying to scam everybody,’ but now I think it’s a good idea because now kids our age can’t really watch the shows we used to watch when we were younger because they are all off of TV,” Mathis said.

Junior Luke Tacelli has subscriptions with Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. These streaming services differ from Disney+ because they consist of other popular shows that are not Disney related.

“If I got Disney+, I would be excited to watch the old shows and movies that remind me of my childhood,” Tacelli said. “I liked all the Marvel movies, ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ ‘Tron’ and ‘Big Hero Six.’”