UK viewers largely unaware of Disney's forthcoming foray into streaming
65% of people in the UK are unaware that Disney will be launching its own streaming service Disney+, despite 31% of them describing themselves as ‘Disney Fans’.
Two thirds of UK public unaware Disney plotting video subscription service
As yet another Disney remake lands in cinemas with the launch of The Lion King, GlobalWebIndex surveyed the UK public to map their awareness of the entertainment giant’s video subscription service plans with Disney+.
5,507 people across UK and US consumers aged 16-64 were questioned as part of the study about Disney’s video ambitions, with researchers finding a worrying lack of awareness about the coming product.
57% of people said they currently spent up to £20 per month on their TV-film subscription services raising questions about whether there room for another player in the market. Answering this, over half (51%) of Disney fans in the UK would be willing to spend up to £10 per month for a Disney+ subscription.
Disney+’s competition is obvious, across the UK and US 71% of Disney fans use Netflix and 37% Amazon Prime video. A quarter said they would pay for all three services. 39% of respondents said they had no plans to take out a Disney+ sub.
Work needs to be done to draw attention to the service and the global original content. Best baiting the service is Pixar content (37%) and then Marvel content (32%) which will have a more unified TV presence on Disney+ now the first decade of movies are a wrap.
Chris Beer, senior trends analyst, said: “With Pixar proving most appealing among content that could entice consumers to subscribe to Disney+, the recent success of Toy Story 4 in the box office will give Disney a lot of confidence in their ambition to win a strong foothold in the UK video streaming market. The most important focus for the new service will be paying close attention to the content demands of its diverse, family-oriented audience.”
At its US Upfronts, Disney hinted how it was going to consolidate its many services into Disney+. Disney recently announced it has full operational control of Hulu after coming to terms with Comcast. This is one more piece of what will become a robust streaming offering: Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+.
The service will be available in America from 12 November at a cost of $6.99 per month. No date has been set for the UK launch.