Disney Archives - Desk Chair Analysts

In more company consolidation news, Disney announced that it will take the rest of Hulu off Comcast’s plate. They will be purchasing the 33 percent that Comcast held. This will cost them around $8.61 billion. This, however, isn’t the final number as that will be determined after some additional number crunching finishes up next year.

The New York Times points out that Comcast could force Disney to buy the whole thing or Disney to make Comcast sell it. Looks like Comcast blinked first and told the House of Mouse that they weren’t waiting any longer.

The acquisition of Comcast’s stake in Hulu at fair market value will further Disney’s streaming objectives.”
Statement in Disney announcement

Earlier in the year Disney stated that they were going to create a “one-app experience” by combining Disney+ and Hulu content. They were going to do that by the end of 2023. They never really said how they were going to do that seeing as Comcast still owned their share. While it doesn’t mean the end of the Hulu app, Hulu’s content would probably be on the new app as well.

Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, stated that this combined app was great for the company. It was a “logical progression” of what they could offer directly to the consumer. Of course, he also stated that it would “provide greater opportunities for advertisers”.

As someone who pays for Hulu and Disney+ in a bundle through Verizon, I had a feeling this was going to be inevitable. I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take before we got here, but it seems like it’s now closer than ever. I find it odd that a lot of people who are generating content still focus on ads instead of their content.

Then again, our personal data is our most valuable resource. Companies will continue to mine it for their personal gain while we all pay the cost.

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Disney thinks subscribers are happy sitting through ads

MajorLinux — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 14:07:54 +0000

In an effort to cut costs and maximize profits for the company to appease the shareholders, a lot of streaming services have added an ad-supported tier to their plans that hadn’t existed before. Only Hulu was brave enough to charge people to watch ads on their platform like their ancestor, cable TV, did before it.

Now, the House of Mouse has come out and said that it’s actually working. From March to September 2023, Disney stated that 50 percent of new subscribers were actively choosing their $7.99/month plan with the ads than the more expensive ones that exclude them.

Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, told The Hollywood Reporter that 40% of Disney+ subs chose to view ads earlier in the year. This was after they added the tier back in December 2022 and advertised it heavily.

They also raised prices for their ad-free tiers like everyone else. They kept their ad-supported tier at its low price. The CEO made it clear this was done for a reason.

We’re actually keeping the advertiser-supported product flat in terms of prices. We’re obviously trying with our pricing strategy to migrate more subs to the advertiser-supported tier.”
Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, Earnings call in August

Not only is Disney seeing this work out for them lucratively. Netflix is also seeing this move pay dividends for them as well. Disney has seen it work so well that they are moving to roll out the ad-supported tier in Canada, parts of the EU, and the UK.

Now, in this capitalist hellscape, this looks like great news. But, the fact of the matter is, when people have less to spend and they want a reprieve from everything going on, they’ll pay whatever. Cash strapped Marvel and Star Wars fans might be willing to stomach ads because it’s all they can afford. Parents will gladly let their kids sit through ads if it keeps Mickey Mouse on the screen.

This isn’t people actively choosing ads as much as it is an illusion of choice made to keep the wealthy rich at the expensive of someone who just wants to watch an episode of Hannah Montana.

Source: The Verge

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Disney Dreamlight Valley no longer going free-to-play

MajorLinux — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 20:24:34 +0000

Gameloft, the developer behind Disney Dreamlight Valley, announced today that they will no longer be making the game free-to-play when it comes out of early access on December 5th. While the game will remain the same price at launch digitally, expect to pay more for the physical version. There will also be a special edition digital version that will include extra currency and cosmetics.

Also, the life sim allegedly has an expansion coming that will cost $30. It will be called “A Rift in Time” and will contain new biomes and more characters. It is expected to be shown off on a stream on November 1st at 5pm UK time.

The game released in early access on September 6th, 2022 for the Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S and is available on Game Pass. There is no word on how long this game will remain on Game Pass if it even remains after it leaves early access.

This choice ensures that Disney Dreamlight Valley will be able to continue delivering on a premium game experience for all players. It’s important to us that we maintain our promise to keep delivering free content updates that add new characters, realms, clothing, furniture, and more surprises to your Valley.”

Source: Eurogamer

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