All a company needs today to launch its own streaming platform is a successful franchise. In Disney's case, we must acknowledge it has much more than that, and one of its best moves was forging an alliance with Netflix, granting access to nearly its entire catalog. However, good things come to an end, and in less than twelve months Disney decided to reverse course. In its latest earnings report, the giant confirmed it will withdraw its movies from Netflix in 2019 and create a new streaming service that same year.
"Long live competition." That is a phrase we have defended tirelessly and will celebrate at every opportunity, as long as the main beneficiary is the consumer. Now, there is a possibility that such competition may never fully materialize. One of the most striking examples appears in the on-demand streaming market. Several portals describe Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, HBO Go/Now, CBS All Access, Fox on Demand, AMC Prime, and others as "competitors"... but in practice it is not quite so. All they are doing is fragmenting the offering with the aim of exercising even greater control over the distribution of their content, forcing the user to contract a service per series in the worst case. Who is going to join this? Disney.
After reaching an excellent agreement with Netflix in September 2016, the home of Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and ESPN said enough. In its latest financial performance report, Disney declared its intention to withdraw movies from Netflix and conclude its relationship in December 2018, favoring a new streaming service that will see the light in 2019. This shift in strategy takes shape with the majority acquisition of BAMTech (linked to Major League Baseball), and includes the launch of another streaming service under the ESPN brand in 2018. The official announcement indicates that the platform will be the "exclusive home" of Disney content in the United States, so we still need to determine how the relationship will continue internationally.
The current agreement between Netflix and Disney covers only movies, so series under Marvel's wing should not be affected, a detail that CEO Bob Iger would have confirmed. At the same time, the fate of sagas like Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not fully defined, and they could retain their exclusivity on Netflix. However, we already know how these things go. What is written by hand is erased by the elbow...
