Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars: CEO Bob Iger says Disney’s streaming service will be able to compete with Netflix
Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger said the company’s yet-to-be-launched direct-to-consumer service will be able to hold its own against streaming giant Netflix.
The Walt Disney Company is home to box office powerhouses Marvel, Pixar and “Star Wars.” In an earnings call on Tuesday, Iger explained that Disney doesn’t need to spend a lot on trial and error to make hit content for its new service because it already owns the rights to such valuable properties.
“When you go to market with “Star Wars” movies, Disney movies, Pixar movies, Marvel-branded and branded television shows under those umbrellas … that will give us the ability to probably spend less than if we had gone to market with a direct-to-consumer service without these brands,” Iger said.
Disney knows it already has shows and movies that consumers want and are actively seeking. By making those exclusively available on its streaming service, Disney doesn’t face the same pressure to outbid other companies in the content spending race. In January, Netflix said it plans on spending between $7.5 billion and $8 billion on content in 2018 alone.
Instead, the entertainment giant can focus on developing its existing franchises and originals. In August, Disney said it would be pulling its movies from Netflix in 2019, when it plans to launch its own streaming platform. The news sent Netflix shares down 4 percent in extended trading.
Besides the nostalgic benefits of Disney’s original movies, there’s plenty of new content on the horizon. Iger said Tuesday that “Black Panther” ticket presales were “outpacing every other superhero movie ever made, driven in part to the phenomenal reaction to the premiere last week.”