Disney’s 2020 Investor Day: Theatres or Disney+
Disney’s annual investors day, an event that focused on the company’s direct-to-consumer streaming services, brought in a surge of excitement for all Star Wars, Disney, Pixar, and Marvel fans.
With an announcement of over 52 new movies, live-action films, documentaries, short films, and streaming series, many were questioning the platform of these releases amidst the uncertainty of the present pandemic.
Even with some prepared to release as far away as the year 2022, Disney has already announced Disney +, a streaming service present since late 2019, to be a space where all series, short films, and documentaries will be released.
Movies, however, are still in question.
CEO Bob Chapek said Disney’s content strategy is about “balance” and meeting consumer demand. Of the projects that Disney shared to the public Thursday, about 80% are going directly to Disney+.
The company’s newly minted strategy is all about “quality not volume,” Disney’s chairman and former CEO Bob Iger said during its Investor Day presentation. Iger, who left the helm of the company nine months ago to focus on content, said “quality holds value.”
Surpassing almost 86 million subscribers, Disney + plans to get its first price hike in March 2021. The company is hoping to get 230 million to 260 million by 2024. But till then, the per-month price will rise to $7.99 per month, a $1 increase—expected as many of these releases will take place on this platform.
Disney + has become the heart of most of Disney’s upcoming ambitions. That’s a difference from WarnerMedia, which has gone all in on its lagging service, HBO Max.
So, over the next few years, Kareem Daniel, head of the company’s new media and entertainment distribution group, revealed that they would bring “roughly” 10 Marvel series, 10 Star Wars series, 15 Disney live-action, Disney Animations, Pixar series, and 15 all-new Disney live-action—most features being directly to Disney +
