Disney Brings Forward Launch of Streaming Service in Europe

(Bloomberg) --

Walt Disney Co.’s streaming service Disney+ will launch one week earlier than initially planned in the biggest European economies.

Disney+, as the platform is known, will go live in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland on March 24, the media giant, based in Burbank, California, said in a statement. The original start date for selected European countries, including Great Britain, was March 31, Variety reported in November.

The service will cost 5.99 pounds ($7.79) or 6.99 euros ($7.75) per month, the U.S. media giant said in a statement on Tuesday. Other European markets, notably Belgium, the Nordics and Portugal will follow “in summer” 2020, it said.

The service started in the U.S. and Canada on Nov. 12 and likely has at least 35 million subscribers, Stephan Bisson, analyst at Wolfe Research, wrote in a note last week.

Disney+ is the company’s effort to compete with Netflix Inc. and other digital rivals. The service includes movies and TV shows from most of the company’s top brands, including Pixar, Marvel and National Geographic. Disney is spending $1 billion in the first year alone on original programming.

Other updates from Disney:

• Subscribers in Western Europe will have access to “The Mandolorian,” a series in the “Star Wars” franchise
• Disney+ will be available on “nearly all” mobile and connected devices including gaming consoles, streaming media players and smart TVs

--With assistance from Joe Mayes.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angelina Rascouet in Paris at arascouet1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Jennifer Ryan, Thomas Pfeiffer

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.