Disney will launch a new Star-branded streaming service next year
Disney will launch a new international streaming service in 2021. The service is released under the Star brand name. The company has not yet announced in which countries the service will be available. The subscription rates are also not yet known.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek announces his plans when discussing the quarterly figures with investors. The new streaming service will receive content from companies that already own Disney. These include ABC Studios, Fox Television, FX, Freeform, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight. “We want to pursue our Disney + strategy of bringing in content we already own and distributing it under a successful international brand that we already own. That, of course, is Star,” said the CEO. The company says it wants to use the Disney + technical platform for the new service.
Disney announced in February that Hulu, another Disney streaming service, could become available internationally in 2021. Chapek does not clarify whether this expansion is still planned. Chapek does say that the upcoming Star service differs from Hulu. He says that the new platform will not get content from third parties under license, as with Hulu. Hulu also says it has ‘no brand awareness outside the US’.
Furthermore, the company is not yet disclosing details about the upcoming Star service. Disney will be holding another ‘in the coming months’ investor day, where the media giant will share more details about its plans for its streaming services. This includes Disney +, Hulu, ESPN + and the Star brand name.
Disney also says that its Disney + streaming service currently has more than 60.5 million subscribers. The company also says that the new Mulan movie will come straight to Disney + on September 4, but subscribers will have to pay an additional cost of $ 30 for the film. Disney calls this Premier Access and the price can vary by region, according to Chapek. In countries where the streaming service is not available, Mulan will premiere in cinemas on the same day.
Disney already has several streaming services