0/5

Stan rumoured in Disney, Hulu talks.

All eyes on Disney content for 2020, infinity and beyond.

There has been speculation for some time about whether Stan will become the natural partner for Disney+ when it is expected in Australia in 2020.

Disney+ will carry programming such as Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and Disney, making it a must-have for the Nine-owned platform as it competes against Netflix and Amazon Prime. Alongside Stan’s Showtime deal, it would be a strong drawcard.

Disney also owns Hulu, with more adult content, and is looking to expand it internationally. Last week, Disney announced a Disney+, an advertising-supported version of Hulu and ESPN+ bundle for $US12.99 ($19.14) for US subscribers.

“We don’t have anything to share at this stage,” a Disney spokeswoman said. Nine declined to comment.

The Australian Financial Review says talks between Stan and Disney are ongoing. It isn’t clear if Disney+ will partner with a local platform or go it alone for its new streaming service.

But Foxtel is also said to be keen to have Disney in its revamped iQ, which recently became a reseller of Netflix and will soon offer SBS on Demand.

ESPN is understood to have recently signed new agreements with Foxtel, Kayo and Fetch in Australia.

“We don’t have anything to share at this stage,” a Disney spokeswoman said. Nine declined to comment.

13 Responses

  1. Well, I guess those Stan talks aren’t going far… engadget.com/2019/08/19/disney-plus-ios-apple-tv-android-xbox-one-canada-netherlands-australia-new-zealand/

  2. I note in a recent online article that Foxtel concede they could lose Disney content if Disney+ arrives but are negotiating to have Disney+ on its iQ4 box like Netflix, both of which would have separate accounts. Disney+ Involving Stan could be a politically clever move, Disney+ would have a ready made Australian identity. The only issue for Disney+ is that their products have been widely distributed and this could continue due to long term broadcast rights, so Stan could stay much the same as it is now with a new Disney+ logo providing newer content (including from Fox). If so this may delay Disney+ / Hulu offering a full catalogue of its movies and shows in comparison to what is offered by Disney+ overseas.

  3. Is there a way to see a list of what programs different streaming services have without signing up to them? I’m trying to find one that has Chicago PD but am not having much luck.

      1. Just Watch is good, but it’s only right about 70% of the time, sadly. It often says that a show or movie is on various streaming services, but it definitely pays to check each result individually.

  4. How many different streaming services do people want to sign up to and keep? Personally having Netflix, Stan and Kayo is the maximum I want to be spending each month. Even then will probably get rid of Kayo after the AFL season.

  5. Disney+ is literally all first party content for the express purpose of delivering a vertically integrated SVOD strategy. There’s almost no reason they’d consider any third party exclusive licence terms outside short term (eg 2020 while the service ramps up/rolls out globally).

    The other services are much more negotiable.

    1. Utilising Stan and its customer base is a pretty compelling reason. Would save a lot of acquisition cost.

      Another option would be to buy all or some of Stan, split and rebrand into “Disney+” for Disney stuff and “Hulu” for everything else. Again, a ready made customer base. ESPN already stands on its own in Australia. The Disney+ and Hulu apps could then work like Netflix where it gives you the content it owns based on what country it thinks you are in.

      As long as the current Hulu keeps working like it does now and they don’t introduce Netflix style geoblocking I really don’t care how the rest of it plays out.

        1. Thus following the example set by Netflix which shows different content in different regions. Broadcast rights competition is unavoidable, you want prime American content you must live in the USA or be a VPN geek.

        2. Hulu already geoblocks. Not as well as Netflix does, but until a couple of years ago, when Netflix started its big push against geododging, it was actually a lot better at it than Netflix. It made at least a token effort by blacklisting known VPN providers. Most have worked around it now, but may soon have more effort required.

Leave a Reply