Advanced Television

Disney+ begins European roll out

March 24, 2020

Disney+, the highly-anticipated SVoD platform from The Walt Disney Company, has gone live in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland. The service will launch in France on April 7th.

In light of concerns regarding the current ability of certain broadband infrastructure to handle the anticipated consumer demand for Disney+, the service will now feature a lower overall bandwidth utilisation by at least 25 per cent.

At launch the service boasts over 500 movies, 26 exclusive original movies and series (including Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian and a live-action Lady and The Tramp movie) and thousands of television episodes from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and more.

Disney+ is also the new streaming home of the iconic animated series The Simpsons, with over 600 episodes available together on-demand for the first time. At launch, seasons 1 to 30 will be available, with season 31 coming to the service later in the year.

“Launching in seven markets simultaneously marks a new milestone for Disney+,“ said Kevin Mayer, Chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International. “As the streaming home for Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and National Geographic, Disney+ delivers high-quality, optimistic storytelling that fans expect from our brands, now available broadly, conveniently, and permanently on Disney+. We humbly hope that this service can bring some much-needed moments of respite for families during these difficult times.”

Consumers can subscribe up for Disney+ directly or via in-app purchase from the following platforms and devices:

  • Amazon (Fire TV devices, Fire TV Edition smart TVs, and Fire Tablets)
  • Apple (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV, and fully integrated with the Apple TV app in the UK and Germany; customers can subscribe to Disney+ via in-app purchase)
  • Google (Android phones, Android TV devices, Google Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices)
  • LG Smart TVs with webOS
  • Microsoft (Xbox One)
  • Roku in the UK and Ireland, and France from 7th April
  • Samsung Smart TVs
  • Sony / Sony Interactive Entertainment (Android-based Sony TVs and PlayStation4)

Through a comprehensive distribution plan and several strategic agreements, Disney+ is also available across multiple premier distributors in Europe with regional deals including:

  • Deutsche Telekom in Germany
  • O2 in the UK
  • Telefonica in Spain
  • TIM in Italy
  • Canal+ in France (from April 7th)

These providers will have the ability to include Disney+ in wholesale and retail packages for their subscribers. Specifics of those offers vary per company.

Disney also has a retail distribution deal with Sky, making Disney+ available in the UK and Ireland on Sky Q, to be followed by NOW TV in the coming months.

Pricing for Disney+ has been confirmed at £5.99/€6.99 per month, or £59.99/€69.99 for an annual subscription. Following its initial European launch markets, additional Western Europe markets, including Belgium, the Nordics, and Portugal, will follow in summer 2020.

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