The Walt Disney Company confirmed on Twitter that Disney+ is coming to the UK on 31st March 2020. As expected, DisneyLife will be rebranded and existing subscriptions migrated to the new streaming service.
Now, how will UK-based fans (myself included) be able to watch Jon Favreau's live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian in the meantime? Avoiding spoilers will be all but impossible and piracy an issue once the highly-anticipated series starts streaming exclusively on Disney+ next week. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a thing in this era of instant gratification and it's surprising DisneyLife isn't streaming the Star Wars series day and date with Disney+.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has announced that Disney+ will be available on a host of devices at launch including Amazon Fire TV, LG and Samsung smart TVs. “We’re pleased to announce partnerships with Amazon Fire [TV], LG, and Samsung devices.”
Disney+ launches in the US, Canada and the Netherlands 12th November and Australia and New Zealand 19th November.
This is only going to hurt Disney+ uptake in the UK. At least initially.
ReplyDeleteSure, once the dust has settled 12 months down the line the delay will largely be forgotten. But - short term UK fans wanting to consume the latest narritve from George Lucas's SW universe are only.going to turn to "alternative" sources.
Whilst the are "reasons" behind this delay (*cough* Sky *cough*) it.is surprising the Disney haven't just chosen to cut a cheque and make the problem go away. If nothing more than it would show they really are committed to addressing the piracy issue with some sblence of sense
Agreed! Showing The Mandalorian on DisneyLife, in the UK and Ireland, would be a clever way of building the subscriber base before rebranding as Disney+ in March.
DeleteI too am a little surprised that we have a staggered launch for D+ and The Mandalorian, given that gaps between premieres in different territories has long since been a thing of the past. It will, unfortunately, encourage piracy and I should imagine the series will be on Bit Torrent sites before too long.
ReplyDeleteRelated to this, my one wish with D+ is that the registration and login for DisneyLife is sorted, along with app stability. Trying to use the app on multiple devices and across multiple usernames has been problematic. Very often movies we had downloaded (Snow White was my son's favourite) often disappeared without warning.
I am looking forward to D+, the content seems a great deal more exciting than other recent launches (Apple TV, Britbox), even an old thing like having all of 'The Simpsons' on-demand means a lot for us in the UK, who did not have the streaming options provided to the US.
Yes, the DisneyLife app is flaky and oftentimes I need to log back in on Apple TV and Samsung smart TV. Hope there's a discounted Disney+ multi-year subscription as offered to attendees of D23 Expo.
DeleteIncidentally, BritBox should have launched with classic Doctor Who serials day-one and not been held back until Boxing Day!
The single best way to fight piracy is to release the content matter in all regions at the same time. Genuine fans will always go above and beyond by any means necessary to support the Star Wars universe. Genuine fans and subscribers should be rewarded for doing the right thing with access to the content otherwise accessing it through pirate means is the only option. A love affair never lasted on hold.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting to see what (if any) announcements are made about viewing The Mandalorian outside Disney+.
DeleteI understand why the delay but I can't help feeling that previous corporate greed has kind of backfired on a huge corporation here. It's come back to bite them on the backside a little. I'm okay with waiting though but I imagine desperation will kick in for a lot of dedicated viewers and will find alternative ways.
ReplyDeleteHad Disney bought Sky, Disney+ would be launching this November in the UK.
DeleteIt's beyond short sighted in a digital age, when people have access to everything online, to stagger the launch of something as big as Disney+. Especially as it's launching in the US with the first ever live action Star Wars TV show. That - from a media point of view - is of global significance. I understand there are rights issues with some (that's SOME) Disney content, but they have a big enough back catalogue to launch Disney+ globally with a partial back-catalogue, and a raft of new shows. Add the other stuff when the rights revert back. The bottom line is me and many others will be finding other means to watch The Mandalorian. Heck, even my MOTHER knows how torrents work...
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing prohibiting Disney from streaming The Mandalorian on DisneyLife!
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