So rumor is Chapek is really spearheading Disney+’s growth from just being a Marvel/Star Wars and babysitting service to a service that has a lot more for adults. They were planning on slowly doing this over time, but once the stock dropped and then Netflix’s stock dropped, they pushed their timeline way up on bringing in more General Entertainment content.
Supposedly some shows will be added over the summer (Glee was added a few days ago with Alias, 8 Simple Rules and The Finder added a week before that). Love Victor (S1-3) is being added on June 15th, simultaneously with Hulu. It’s rumored that Malcom in the Middle and Doogie Howser are coming at minimum.
The big rumor though is that the ad-tier is going to launch this fall basically along with Dancing With The Stars (so that they can run ads with DWTS), but the problem is, beyond that, Disney has said the majority of content watched on their platform is movies, which is not a recipe for ad-supported success, as movies typically only have around 3-4 ads for 2+ hour movies whereas with binge-worthy TV whether it’s a 22-minute sitcom like a Black-ish, New Girl (leaving Netflix after July I believe), HIMYM, etc, etc, or an hour drama there’s normally AT LEAST 3-4 ads and these are shows that people might fall asleep watching or have an intrinsic repeatability to them.
Basically, Disney needs more shows on there for their ad-supported service to be a success. I’d be very surprised if Abbott Elementary or Modern Family weren’t added soon, if not both.
www.wsj.com
