Disney+
By: Caroline Mcglynn
Tags: Competition, Neflix, Disney, High School, Disney Plus

By: Caroline McGlynn

The Disney+ Logo

With so much content only found on Disney+, such as Tangled, Avengers Endgame and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Disney+ is a very fast-growing streaming service.

Many subscribers preordered Disney+ up to 2 months in advance. In the U.S. alone, approximately 1.9 million people preordered Disney+.

Mr. Matteson, a Social Studies and videography teacher at South Kingstown High School, said he ordered Disney+ “before it came out.”

On April 11 Disney announced its new streaming service, Disney+ and since then Disney stock has already gone up 16.5 percent.

Disney+ launched November 12, 2019, and in the first 24 hours gained 10 million subscribers. In comparison, HBO Now has only 8 million subscribers after 5 years on the market while Netflix possesses 150 million subscribers after 22 years. No question, Disney+’s fast growth is increasing competition between streaming services.

SKHS freshman Maisie McNeice (Photo credit Maisie McNeice)

“Before I got Disney+ Netflix was my favorite streaming service,” SKHS freshman Maisie McNeice said. “Now I can’t decide.”

McNeice isn’t the only one having trouble deciding what her favorite streaming service is.

“It’s between Netflix and Disney+,” Matteson said.

This is some of the content you will find on Disney+ (Photo credit Maisie McNeice)

Millions of people log on to Disney+ daily to watch their favorite shows and movies. This includes most Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, National Geographic and Disney content.

“Some of the content is very fun and nice and entertaining,” Matteson said, “like Jeff Goldblum, and The Mandalorian, and Forky Asks a Question.”

The World According to Jeff Goldblum, The Mandalorian, and Forky Asks a Question are all original Disney shows only found on Disney+. By putting certain shows only on Disney+, Disney was able to increase the number of paying subscribers who they hope to get hooked on a show through the free trial.

Disney originals don’t seem to be the only factor driving people to Disney+. Another factor seems to be nostalgia as many subscribers enjoy rewatching Disney shows and movies from their childhood.

McNeice said she enjoys Disney+ because “I can watch all of my childhood shows and realize what I didn’t understand years ago.”

SKHS freshman Emma Davis agrees with McNeice, and she said she would recommend Disney+ because “it gives you a chance to in a way relive your childhood.”

Davis also said that her favorite film to watch is Wizards of Waverly place because it was one of her favorite TV shows as a kid.

Matteson admits that the only reason he got Disney+ is the Disney+ original Mandalorian. “There is no other reason other than the Mandalorian!”

McNeice disagrees. Her favorite show to watch on Disney+ is not the Mandalorian or any of the other Originals, it’s Good Luck Charlie, she said, a TV show from 2010 that she used to watch when she was younger.

Matteson said that he has always liked the Disney+ content, especially “considering that Disney has consumed most of Hollywood, Marvel, Pixar, StarWars.”

Disney has taken all of its content off of other sources to increase the number of subscribers and increase revenue. “I have control with Cox that had On Demand and I would look up Disney but nothing would come up,” McNeice said.

With tons of original content, Disney+ is growing rapidly and drawing fans away from other streaming services.

Netflix and Disney+ (Photo credit ktswblog.net)

According to USAToday, a report from Cowen & Co. showed “Netflix lost over 1.1 million subscribers to Disney+ with barely a month in the game.”