It looks like a “civil war” has emerged between Disney and Netflix. Disney has announced to call off the distribution agreement with Netflix, though no conflict of interest has been reported between the two giants. However, Disney pulling out is not exactly a happy occasion for Netflix.
The announcement was delivered as a takeover news where Disney is going to pay $1.48 billion to buy another 42 percent of BAMTech in addition to the 33 percent stake bought for $1 billion the previous year. BAMTech is existing beneath the Major League Baseball umbrella. Now that Disney possesses more than 50% of shares, it’s going to control the firm as desired.
Where Netflix has already been fighting a battle for dominance with its competitors like Amazon Prime and Hulu, Disney is going to add insult to injury by launching its own streaming service, along with a separate ESPN streaming platform in 2018. The service would potentially offer live streaming of sports from the NBA, MLB and tennis with bonus sports content.
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Disney CEO Bob Iger released a statement that lays out Disney’s scope for its streaming career-
“Today we announced a strategic shift in the way we distribute our content. The media landscape is increasingly defined by direct relationships between content creators and consumers, and our control of BAMTech’s full array of innovative technology will give us the power to forge those connections, along with the flexibility to quickly adapt to shifts in the market. This acquisition and the launch of our direct-to-consumer services mark an entirely new growth strategy for the Company, one that takes advantage of the incredible opportunity that changing technology provides us to leverage the strength of our great brands.”
According to the announcement made on Tuesday about own subscription service in 2019, films from Walt Disney Studios, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and others under its umbrella are going to get a new home. The year 2019 is already packed with much awaited movies including Toy Story 4, the sequel to Frozen and the live-action remake of The Lion King.
Overall, Captain America isn’t going to be there on Netflix anymore after 2018. Even if I once ignore the business rivalry of both Disney and Netflix, I am just tensed if I’ve to start paying for both the providers to watch my favorites. Well, whatever it is, it is going to cost us some more.