[wmjfoley85]

https://www.mtlblog.com/news/entert...elease-date-monthly-price-tv-shows-and-movies

According to this article, Disney+ will merge Hulu and ESPN+ into one streaming service.Today marks the completion of the Fox-Disney deal as well.

 

[BGY11]

So with this service expected to reach Canada sometime in 2020, this may in fact be how we get access to Hulu!

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

 

[ExDilbert]

Like all services, programming on Disney+ will be subject to licensing for Canada. The content that Disney Studios owns outright will likely show up but may be delayed. As for network TV content, it could just have ABC programming produced by Disney. Other US network content may continue to be licensed exclusively to Canadian networks.

 

[wmjfoley85]

This indeed does take time, but like all other streaming rights it doesn’t mean it won’t happen there are expirations on such rights at which time it’s up to the Networks to continue to decide if they want to continue to pursue it or even if they can obtain them again.There is also ways around it as well such as being abit behind network tv. Take Amazon Prime or Crave TV for example or even CBS All Access, they are constantly adding new programming they gain the rights for. I believe Network TV is going to have a very hard time in the future, the future is in streaming.

 

[ExDilbert]

I agree but the future is further away in Canada. The CRTC and Bell seem to be distorting the market significantly. Even though the CRTC does not regulate streaming services directly, it creates an uneven marketplace by enriching Canadian broadcasters and reducing competition. Bell's aggressive acquisition of programming rights seems to be the biggest factor. They license programming for Canadian broadcast that are exclusive to streaming services in their home market. The best example is Star Trek which is on Space in Canada but exclusive to CBS All Access in the US. That puts CBS All Access at a disadvantage in Canada. As long as Bell keeps paying enough money to make that more profitable for content producers, competing streaming services will have difficulty expanding in the Canadian market.

 

[nfitz]

The best example is Star Trek which is on Space in Canada but exclusive to CBS All Access in the US. That puts CBS All Access at a disadvantage in Canada.

That's entirely up to CBS isn't it ... if it chooses to sell it's key products elsewhere. They've been selling others too ... The Good Life is now listed as being shown on W. Gosh, did that really net them much $?

Checking though ...most Star Trek isn't exclusive to CBS All Access in the US either. I can see the older series such as TOS and TNG available to stream on Hulu, Prime AND Netflix!

Even STD season 1 can be purchased digitally from Amazon, Apple, Vudu, etc. in the USA.

I don't see any reason a somewhat limited Disney+ (ABC/Disney/ESPN/Hulu) service can't appear in Canada almost as quick as Disney appears in the USA. Presumably they'll do as CBS, price it lower, and have less content than the US, slowly adding stuff as it becomes available.

 

[ExDilbert]

I meant to type Star Trek: Discovery. Somehow the last part got dropped. I agree licensing their product is up to CBS but they are operating on an uneven playing field in Canada. It probably makes more sense to sell it to a Canadian broadcaster because that generates more revenue. Purchasing TV shows has been an option for a long time. It's a different marketing channel than broadcasting or streaming and will likely remain that way.

 

[mike10]

twilight zone also got sold to bell

 

[nfitz]

twilight zone also got sold to bell

The new series that's starting soon? Or the 1960s one?

A lot of the classic CBS content on CBS All Access Canada appears on various terrestrial and cable channels in Canada.

Ultimately, they have to decide if they want to build a streaming channel that lots of people will subscribe to, with exclusive content, or just be a much smaller service.

 

[Dr.Dave]

According to this article, Disney+ will merge Hulu and ESPN+ into one streaming service.

Has anyone been able to confirm that statement with a credible source? Disney's CEO has said just the opposite - they will keep all 3 services separate since they serve different audiences, but they are planning to bundle them, so an American that orders all 3 will get a price discount.

I have my doubts about ESPN+ coming to Canada. Disney owns the content on Disney+, and the ABC and Fox Studios content on Hulu. However, they don't own the content on ESPN+, they just license the U.S. rights from the sports leagues in the same way that TSN and Sportsnet license the Canadian rights for their linear channels and streaming services.

Regarding CBS All Access: they sold the exclusive Canadian rights to the new Twilight Zone to Rogers Media last fall - it will air on Citytv on April 4. The 1960s Twilight Zone is non-exclusive and is available on CBS All Access, Citytv and Space.

Before CBS All Access launched in Canada, they sold the exclusive rights for The Good Fight to Corus, which airs it on W Network and they sold Star Trek: Discovery to Bell Media, which shows it on Space and streams it on Crave. There's a good chance Netflix would have bought the Canadian rights if Bell wasn't interested, since they bought the rights to the rest of the world outside the U.S.

 

[Exid0r]

@Dr.Dave

Excerpt from Bloomberg article (my bold):

Disney to Show New Streaming Service at April [11] Investor Day

By Christopher Palmeri
January 18, 2019

Walt Disney Co. will show off its highly anticipated Disney+ streaming service at an April 11 investor meeting, providing a peek at a platform that will challenge Netflix Inc. head on.

The service, which will include original movies and TV shows from Disney’s Marvel, Pixar and other brands, is scheduled to debut later this year. It will be a third, more family-focused streaming service, on top of Disney’s existing ESPN+ and Hulu, which will soon be majority owned by the Burbank, California-based entertainment giant.

Excerpt from Deadline Hollywood (Deadline.com) article (my bold):

Disney-Fox Deal Primer: The Ins And Outs Of Hollywood’s Mega Merger

by Dade Hayes
March 18, 2019

Q: What will change at Hulu?

A: Under Disney’s majority control, the streaming platform first launched in 2007 will become the third prong in the company’s attack on the streaming market. Unlike the family-friendly Disney+, launching late in the year, or the sports-centric ESPN+, Hulu will likely become a vehicle for older-skewing and edgier content, from Deadpool to Fox Searchlight titles, on top of current and future Hulu originals. In January, Hulu announced 48% year-over-year subscriber growth and now has more than 25 million, and that’s all in the U.S. Iger has told Wall Street that Disney’s management team will meet with the Hulu board and minority owner Comcast after the close to advocate for increased content investment and international expansion, both measures aimed at keeping the company competitive with Netflix.

***********************

So, I guess we will find out for sure on April 11, 2019.

 

[Dr.Dave]

@Exid0r those are both credible sources that I look at often. They both say that Disney+ will be a third streaming service, not a merger with the other two to make one single streaming service.

 

[nfitz]

Could perhaps they be both merged, but still branded as separate services? The mtlblog article talks about Hulu having different content, even after it discusses merger.

 

[Dr.Dave]

This isn't the article I read earlier, but it summarizes Bob Iger's comments from last year.

Disney may offer its customers the option to purchase a discounted bundle of its three streaming apps — Hulu, Disney’s upcoming streaming service and ESPN+ — according to comments made by Disney CEO Bob Iger during the company’s’ earnings call this week. He said Disney would rather keep the three properties separate, rather than trying to combine them into a more robust “aggregation play,” so as to better address cord cutters’ desire to pick-and-choose the services they want.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/08/d...e-of-hulu-espn-and-its-new-streaming-service/

 

[Dr.Dave]

I looked up the transcript if anyone wants to read Bob Iger's words verbatim. See the last paragraph of page 12.

https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/q3-fy18-earnings-transcript.pdf

I expect Disney+ will use the same BAMTech technology that they used for ESPN+. I wouldn't be surprised if they developed a unified front end that would access either service, depending on the subscription. It might even interface into Hulu, although I have no idea what the underlying technology is there.

 

[Inglewood]

We can speculate, but until it launches, I think we won't actually know what will be offered in Canada.

Like other services, I think we will see a watered down version with less content in Canada.

Streaming services are the modern .com rush that occurred in the late 90's. I think a lot of them are going to disappear, and some are even "Vapourware". Apple is going to announce there service shortly as well.

I'm speculating that we are going to see a lot of changes in the streaming industry in the next 5-10 years. I can see content producers selling non-exclusive content that goes across services, content producers getting "paid per view" like on YouTube, and consolidation (think of a streaming service that acts like your cable company - consolidates streaming services for one price instead of channels like cable providers do today - one bill for dozens of services, where you pick and pay for the 5, 10, etc. you want in a bundle deal).

I'm also curious how these services will start to be regulated...if the government can tax it more, control it, create Canadian jobs, etc. they will...

 

[Dr.Dave]

Streaming services are the modern .com rush that occurred in the late 90's. I think a lot of them are going to disappear, and some are even "Vapourware".

There were "more than 230 SVOD services now operating in the U.S." (Deadline - Dec. 2018)

 

[ExDilbert]

Apple just announced they are starting their own streaming service. If they do it right, Disney, Apple and Netflix will likely end up being the big players with a few others like HBO and CBS holding much smaller market share. Success will mostly be determined by content. I see some acquisitions and mergers to obtain enough content to compete. Over 200 of those current 230 SVOD services will likely be gone in 5 to 10 years.

 

[Inglewood]

I personally do not see Apple becoming a big player - they don't have a library of content that the others have (a back catalogue). I recently read an article that the most popular show on Netflix is "Friends" - it's almost 20 years old...

I also think that companies such as Apple and Google will have anti-competition challenges coming soon. Those will eat up resources.

I think a service that has a model similar to Hulu will succeed and kill the competition if done right. Offer multiple tiers, including a "Free" tier with lots of commercials added to programming (like traditional TV), but offer packages to avoid commercials for a fee.

There is still tons of advertising money out in the world - so far these streaming companies are not thinking too much about offsetting the cost of the service with advertising to entice consumers to watch. I personally would consider watching 5 minutes of adds over 30 minutes of programming to get it free.

 

[wmjfoley85]

Right now Apple TV Plus will only focus on their own Original Programming when they launch they won’t be anywhere near the likes of Amazon or Netflix, even Hulu.