Disney+: complete chronology (updating)

151124 Launches DisneyLife in UK, 10 GBP/mo (max 10 devices, max 6 profiles); movies (300, incl Pixar), TV (2000 episodes), books (>100; audio & e), music (5k tracks from soundtracks), game apps (1 free per mo); excl Marvel (Avengers, Iron Man), Lucasfilm (Star Wars); web/app (iOS with AirPlay, Android with Chromecast); 5 languages (EN, FR, GE, IT, SP) - Plans expansion in Europe 2016 (not NL)

160810 Acquires 33% of BAMTech from MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM) + option for majority, $1b; 7.5m paying subs

170808 Acquires 42% more of BAMTech, $1.58b, stake to 75% (25% owned by MLB, NHL)

171110 Expands DisneyLife (UK only) to Ireland, 7 EUR/mo

180119 BAMTech Media appoints Kevin Swint (formerly Apple, Samsung) GM for Disney SVOD

180208 Rumor: Disney SVOD to launch autumn 2019, first in US, R-rated content on Hulu, Marvel stays on Netflix; to produce 4-5 original movies & 5 series in first yr (cost max $100m for 10-episode series); movies planned: Don Quixote, Lady and the Tramp, The Paper Magician, Stargirl, Togo, Magic Camp, Noelle, 3 Men and a Baby, Sword and the Stone, Timmy Failure; series planned: High School Musical, Monsters Inc, a Marvel live-action title, a Star Wars-branded title

181108 Streaming service to be called Disney+, to launch end 2019 in US: older films + series (incl Marvel, Star Wars (incl 2nd series), Pixar, NatGeo); plans geographic expansion for Hulu, could buy out Comcast (30%) and Time WarnerAT&T (10%) from Hulu - Plans 3 global services: sports (ESPN in US), general entertainment (Hulu), Disney (Disney+) - Big budget movies (>$100m) first in theaters (not as originals for Disney+), plans original movies for Disney+ (Lady and the tramp (live-action), Noelle)

190118 Plans Disney+ demo 190411 (Investor Day) - UBS: 5m subs after 12 mo, 50m after 5 yr - Disney+ to start with 5k hr of classic material

190306 Rumor: to trial Disney+ in NL - To include entire 'vault'

190411 Disney+ to launch 191112, 7 $/mo, 69 $/yr (= 5.83 $/mo), ad-free, first in US, near-global after 2 yr; downloads for offline viewing, parental controls, supports 4K, HDR; at launch: 7500 past episodes, 25 original series, 10 original movies/specials, 400 library movies, 100 recent movies growing to in 5 yr 10k past episodes, 50 original series, 10 movies/specials, 500 library movies, 120 recent movies; to include all 2019 film releases after theatrical & home entertainment windows close; plans original content spending $1b in 2020 (amortisation $500m), growing to $2.5b (for 50 originals) in 2024 (amortisation $2b), licensed content expense $1.5b in 2020, $2.5b in 2024; operating expenses $1b in 2020, peak losses in 2020-2022, targets profitability by 2024; targets 60-90m subs YE 2024 (o/w 1/3 in US long term); plans original series from Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar; considers discounted bundle with ESPN+ & Hulu (in US) - Hulu (25m subs; ad-free 12 $/mo or limited ads 6 $/mo; also Live TV tier 45 $/mo) targets 40-60m subs YE 2024, peak operating loss $1.5b in 2019, profitability in 2023/2024, plans international expansion - ESPN+ (2m subs; limited ads, 5 $/mo or 50 $/yr, excludes live sports & most popular games) targets 8-12m subs YE 2024, operating loss $650m in 2019 & 2020, profitable by 2023, plans international expansion - Hotstar (300m MAU; free+ads or premium) in Asia    

190806 Plans bundle of Disney+ (7 $/mo), ESPN+ (5 $/mo), Hulu (6 $/mo) in US for 13 $/mo from 191112

190819 To launch Disney+ in US, Canada (9 CAD/mo, 90 CAD/yr), NL (7 EUR/mo, 70 EUR/yr) 191112, in Australia (9 AUD/mo, 90 AUD/yr) & NZ (10 NZD/mo, 100 NZD/yr) 191119; all own films to be on Disney+ exclusively; ordered original series Star Wars (10 episodes; Jon Favreau), available at launch; distr deals with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku, Sony; 23 $/yr discount in US for D23 members (Founders Circle) to 47 $/yr [= 3.92 $/mo] in 3-yr subscription

190912 Disney+ pre-launch in NL, free until launch 191112; apps for web, iOS, Android, Android TV, Xbox, PS4 - HarrisX survey US (6621): 21% will subscribe to Disney+ - Opens sign-ups in US 190923 (promo: 7 days free) - To launch in Latam 21Q1 - Complete list of movies available at launch - GfK: 1.8m viewers for Disney+ in NL in first month

191107 Disney+ to launch in UK, DE, FR, IT, ES 190331 - Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO to be a Disney+ subscriber) - Plans apps for Android, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Roku Amazon Fire TV/tablet, Samsung smart TV, LG smart TV - Will not publish viewing stats

191112 Disney+ launches in US, Canada, NL; max 4 simultaneous streams

191115 Disney+ to launch in SE Asia 20H2, with Hotstar (India, to expand to Indonesia, Malaysia, other); rumor: Hotstar price to rise from 14 to 30 $/mo

191119 Disney+ launches in Australia (9 or 90 AUD per mo or yr), NZ (10 or 100 NZD per mo or yr), Puerto Rico

200121 Plans launch in W-Europe (UK, IE, FR, IT, ES, DE, AT, CH) 200324 [see 191107]; 7 EUR/mo or 6 GBP/mo; 70 EUR/yr or 60 GBP/yr; later BE, PT, Nordics - DisneyLife (UK) to migrate to Disney+ - Dutch service available in UK from 200204

200205 Plans launch in India with Hotstar 200329; subs at 200203: Disney+ 28.6m, ESPN+ 7.6m (6.6m YE 2019), Hulu 30.7m (27.2m YE 2019; Hulu With Live TV 3.2m YE 2019); ARPUs: Disney+ $5.56, ESPN+ $4.44, Hulu SVOD $13.15, Hulu With Live TV $59.47

200224 Disney+ early access promo in IT, ES, FR, IE, DE until 200323: first year EUR 60 (instead of 70) - And in UK: GBP 50 (instead of 60) - To launch in UK with 500 films, 350 series, 26 originals - Early access in India 200312 with Hotstar

200320 Delays Disney+ launch in India (with Hotstar, planned 200329) - Delays launch in FR to 200407 - Launch India 200403 - French media law limits additions to films 36 mo out of theater - To launch in Japan 200611

200324 Disney+ expands in Europe: UK (60 GBP/yr), CH (100 CHF/yr), FR/DE/AT/ES/IT/IE (70 EUR/yr) - 5m downloads on day 1 - To expand to BE Sep 2020 - To launch in BE, LU, PT, NO, SE, DK, FI, IS 200915 with 59 originals, >700 movies, >350 series

200619 Disney+ drops free trial (7 days)

200623 Disney+ to expand to PT, BE LU, NO, DK, SE, FI, Iceland.200915

200625 To withdraw Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior in UK, content moves to Disney+

200804 Disney+ reaches 60.5m subs; Mulan to premiere on Disney+ 200904 for $30 (one-off TVOD offering = PVOD = Premier Access, remains available as long as viewer stays subscribed); Disney+ to expand to Indonesia 200905; plans new int OTT service Star 2021 [instead of expanding Hulu internationally], content from content from ABC, FX, Freeform, Searchlight, 20th Century Studios, no licensed content, focus on adults; Disney+, Hulu (35.5m) & ESPN+ (8.5m) have combined >100m subs; ESPN+ raises price to 6 $/mo (from 5) from 200812 - Mulan to be released in theaters in China - Mulan also on PVOD (TVOD) at Apple, Roku, Google on 200904, $30; UK price GBP 20, EUR 22 in EU, AUD 35 in Australia, CAD 35 in Canada - Rumor: Mulan avialble free for all Disney+ subs from 201204 - Mulan in Chinese theaters from 200911 - Mulan on Disney+ from 201204 - Rumor: Premier Access to Mulan underperforms

200818 Disney+ to expand to Latam 201117

200911 Disney+ plans GroupWatch feature: max 7 users for single stream - Launches 200929 - Expands to Europe 201023

200915 Disney+ launches in 8 EU countries [see 200623]

200928 Disney+ plans Drive-In Festival in Santa Monica (Cal) 201005-12: screenings incl premieres (The Right Stuff, Clouds)

201001 Closes Disney Channel in UK, content moves to Disney+

201001 Lowers Premier Access price for Mulan to $7 on Disney+; available for non-subs from 201006 on Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, VUDU, FandangoNOW

201008 Pixar movie Soul premieres on Disney+ 201225, skips theater window

201016 Bloomberg: int expansion through Star, not Hulu over buy-out cost payable to Comcast (2024)

201102 Rumor: to launch in CZ & Slovakia 21H2 - Launches early access promo in Latam (10 countries, launch 201117)

201117 Disney+ launches in Latam

201210 Investor Day: total D2C content expense 2023/24 $14-16b, total streaming subs 300-350m; Disney+ reaches 86.8m subs 201202 (o/w 24m = ~30% for Disney+ Hotstar in India), target 230-260m by 2024 (o/w 30-40% at Hotstar; incl Star, launch 210223); target peak oper loss in 2020/21, profitable in 2023/24; to raise prices March 2021 in US from 7 to 8 $/mo (70 to 80 $/yr), bundle Hulu (with ads) & ESPN+ from 13 to 14 $/mo; new bundle Disney+, Hulu (ad-free), ESPN+ 19 $/mo; in Europe from 7 to 9 EUR/mo (to add Star); plans to add new originals to Disney+ every week; distr deal with Comcast for Xfinity X1 and Flex subs; to spend $8-9b on originals in 2023/24; to add 10 Marvel series, 10 Star Wars series, 15 Disney & Pixar series & 15 features (total 100 releases/yr across all brands); Pinocchio (Tom Hanks), Peter Pan and Wendy to skip theaters to premiere on Disney+; day-and-date theater release & Premier Access at $30 for Raya and the Last Dragon; Star (#6 tab within Disney+, next to Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, NatGeo; with parental control) to launch 210223 in continental Europe (1k titles), Canada, ANZ, Singapore; Hulu reaches 38.8m paid subs 201202, target 50-60m by 2024; 92m MAU for AVOD, Hulu With Live TV 4m subs; profitable by 2022/23; ESPN+ reaches 11.5m subs 201202, target 20-30m by 2024; profitable by 2022/23; Star+ (incl Disney+, ESPN, ESPN+ content) to launch June 2021 in Latam, ~7.50 $/mo stand-alone, ~9.00 $/mo in bundle with Disney+, 2k titles in first yr + 10k sports events (500 per mo)

210104 Star (tab within Disney+ [see 201210]) to contain ABC and Hulu titles - To contain >75 series & 270 movies at launch 210223

210106 Disney+ raises prices (on addition of Star tab) 210223 in Europe for new subs (for existing subs from 210823) from 7 to 9 EUR/mo or from 70 to 90 EUR/yr

210202 Starts sale of Disney+/ESPN+/Hulu (ad-free) bundle, 19 $/mo

210223 Launches Star tab (75 series, 280 movies at launch) in Disney+ in Europe, ANZ, Canada, Singapore; content from content from ABC, Hulu, FX, Freeform, Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios, 20th Television, more; Disney+ price increases from 7 to 9 EUR/mo, 6 to 8 GBP/mo [see 201210]

210421 Content deal with Sony for Disney+, Hulu, ABC, Disney Channels, Freeform, FX, NatGeo in US for new theatrical releases & library titles 2022-2026 for Pay 1 TV window (after Netflix)

210427 To close 18 linear channels in Asia 211001 to focus on Disney+ - To expand Asian content - To close Fox Channel in UK to focus on Disney+ - To close 100 cable channels in 2021 to focus on streaming https://variety.com/2021/biz/asia/disney-closing-tv-channels-in-asia-1234961166/

210513 20/21Q2 (per 210403): Disney+ (incl Disney+ Hotstar) net adds 8.7m to 103.6m; ESPN+ net adds 1.7m to 13.8m; shortened 45 day theater window for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (210903, Marvel) & Free Guy (210813, 20th Century), some films to go to Disney+ directly, some day&date in theater & Disney+ for Premier Access ($30; Cruella on 210528, Black Widow on 210709, Jungle Cruise (Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt) on 210730); to launch Star+ (incl Disney and ESPN content) in Latam 210831 (delayed from June 2021) as stand-alone SVOD service

210519 Disney Plus Hotstar to expand to Thailand 210630, distr deal with AIS

210526 May discontinue Premier Access after 2021