It might factor into it, but if it’s economically bad for HBO Europe, it would also factor into the price someone else is willing to pay for it, so selling isn’t an obvious answer. Maybe they think a local* player will be willing to pay more as they could just put their domestic content on the service and qualify that way.
*Sky is the most likely buyer, actually, and it’s technically local though now owned by Comcast.
I wonder if Brexit is working against HBO at this point? They’re investing in His Dark Materials with the BBC, but, alas.
Also, Game of Thrones was mostly shot in Northern Ireland, but the spin-offs might also shoot in other European countries (like Game of Thrones did) to get in under the rule?
Is Sky based in the UK? Brexit doesn’t help them, either.
HBO doesn’t operate in the UK. Sky has the rights to distribute HBO shows here (and does so online much cheaper than an HBO sub, incidentally).
Sky has subsidiaries all over Europe — it’s a particularly big player in Germany and Italy — and is ultimately owned in the US.
Disney+ will be $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year, and launches with all 30+ seasons of The Simpsons.
That is a very compelling price for the content they’ll have even at launch.
So they say they’re probably going to give the option to bundle it with Hulu and ESPN+, which seems reasonable. On the other hand, since Disney owns a controlling stake in Hulu, wouldn’t it make more sense to simply fold Hulu into the Disney streaming service? It’s going to be kind of inconvenient to go from, say, streaming a Simpsons episode on Disney+ and then having to exit and switch to Hulu to stream a Futurama episode.
Otherwise, I am absolutely paying $6.99 for this.
Disney only owns a partial stake in HULU.
From Wikipedia:
Hulu is owned by Hulu LLC, a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company (holds 60% stake), Comcast (via NBCUniversal; holds 30% stake), and AT&T (via WarnerMedia; holds 10% stake)
There was talk that Disney was going to try to buy out the other partners, and that still may happen, just not yet.
I hate that that’s a price I’m willing to pay because it’s textbook monopoly behavior, and Disney isn’t a company I consider above that sort of thing.
Huh? A low price is monopoly behavior?
60% is a majority stake. I assume it has something to do with licensing agreements to Hulu specifically and Disney wanting to capitalize on its own brand on a streaming service it owns outright rather than putting their stuff on Hulu.
Also:
Everything is getting very complicated. I’m not sure how much Comcast can afford to screw with Disney, though, because they still need Disney properties like ESPN. I’m also not sure what the fate of Freeform (their cable channel) will be - will they shut it down?
Since Disney owns FOX now there is content that’s not suitable for the brand, i.e. mature/R rated stuff. Hulu gives them an outlet for that.
Yes. Set a price that’s unsustainably low for your competitors, watch them leave the market, jack up the prices. Technically it’s predatory pricing but the end result is what concerns me.
I mean, I like Hulu and don’t want to see the streaming services get any more fractured than they already are so I’m basically saying it would be better for me as a consumer to not have to subscribe to both Hulu and Disney+ and was hoping for a scenario where it wouldn’t happen. Disney/Fox having their own thing with Disney+ and divesting from Hulu seems somewhat likely, or at least the other Hulu partners setting up their own competing services once their agreements with Hulu expire and Hulu disappearing.
Yeah, fair enough, but I think Disney would point to the wealth of other streaming options (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon (which has a price of $0 for Prime members), HBO Now, AMC Premier, etc.) as proof that they aren’t a monopoly.
Sure, I’d agree that isn’t where they are now but I’m cynical and distrusting enough of Disney that it’s immediately what I expect they’re planning.
Yeah, I forgot how protective of their brand Disney is. That might actually be a good thing if it means FX (for one) can keep putting out adult prestige dramas and comedies without interfering with (or intervention from) Disney.
Is it really unsustainable, though? Sure, it’s cheaper than Netflix…but you’re getting a lot less content, so I’m thinking the value/dollar ratio is probably still pretty similar if not worse, as always depending on how much you value a particular set of content. Personally, I wouldn’t care about Disney+ at all if they didn’t own Marvel and Star Wars, and even with those…I’m going to be seeing the movies in the theater, so its value to me will live and die on how worthwhile the series are. And those are a lot tougher to keep consistent with, as we’ve seen.