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Disney Life streaming app released in the UK


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Old 09-12-2016, 13:14
David_Flett1
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I wasn't sure where best to place this thread as it obviously relates to entertainment services but has wider implications for SKY and indeed the debate on the broadcasting thread concerning Sky's announcement where they will be more selective on sports strategy.

Disney have just launched the Disney Life app on the Amazon Fire TV in the UK which will give access to popular Disney shows and movies. With Netflix and Amazon gaining popularity and more people signing up to Sky's Now TV are we seeing a mirror image of what has happened in the US with studios such as Disney, HBO, Fox, CBS prepared to offer stand alone streaming options alonside cable to arrest the large loss of cable subscribers?

In a number of post I have made over the last year, generally on the broadcasting thread, I have raised the issue where SKY may be challenged if studios such as HBO follow the path they have chosen in the US and offer a stand alone service either on it's own or alongside Sky and ultimately people may cherry pick stand alone servics such as Netflix, Amazon, Now TV instead of the entry bundles on satellite. They may dip in and out binge watching a few seasons before moving on to another service.

Generally people have said that it will not happen and that HBO and studios are unlikely to drop SKY but Disney now have done exactly that and launched a service in the UK for just £4.99 a month. HBO currently receive just £55 million a year from Sky on a five year contract, that isn't exactly a lot of money but HBO didn't have any options after BT didn't consider bidding. That of course may change as since then BT have acquirred AMC, perhaps they may bid for HBO next time round, either way SKY are going to have to part with much more to retain HBO shows on their premium Sky Atlantic channel.

There has also been strong rumours that Disney may consider a bid for Netflix next year as they favour Reed Hastings becoming their next CEO. That would make Disney/Netflix the largest streaming service in the world and make it a hugely popular optionas a stand alone service worldwide.
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Old 09-12-2016, 13:32
Jimmy_Barnes
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DisneyLife hasn't "just" launched, it's been available for just over a year now. I got my daughters a six-month subscription last Christmas, I remember speaking to a very friendly phone operative about a balls-up I made with the account creation on Christmas Day!

The price reduction is a new thing though, up until recently it was £9.99 a month, which is pricey for a lot of people, despite there being a lot of content available. I never bothered renewing my daughters subscription after the 6-month period as they just weren't getting money's worth from it. £4.99 a month is a different proposition though...

Looks like the service is available on a few more devices now too, which is always good news.
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Old 09-12-2016, 14:08
David_Flett1
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DisneyLife hasn't "just" launched, it's been available for just over a year now. I got my daughters a six-month subscription last Christmas, I remember speaking to a very friendly phone operative about a balls-up I made with the account creation on Christmas Day!

The price reduction is a new thing though, up until recently it was £9.99 a month, which is pricey for a lot of people, despite there being a lot of content available. I never bothered renewing my daughters subscription after the 6-month period as they just weren't getting money's worth from it. £4.99 a month is a different proposition though...

Looks like the service is available on a few more devices now too, which is always good news.
Sorry I should have said it is now £4.99 as I have in another thread where I said people may think carefully at a £9.99 price point but £4.99 just seems to be such an attractive entry point and that many parents aren't even going to think twice. Along with Netflix, Amazon and Now TV it is a cheaper option altogether than the family bundle on the satellite platform.

I may be wrong I'd have to ask my neice but I thought Disney had reduced it to £7.99 but there are so many offers it is hard to keep track.
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Old 09-12-2016, 14:54
gother
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I had a 3 month free trial of this with my Chromecast i couldn't justify £9.99p/m after my trial but the new price of £4.99 is certainly great value.
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Old 09-12-2016, 16:43
David_Flett1
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I had a 3 month free trial of this with my Chromecast i couldn't justify £9.99p/m after my trial but the new price of £4.99 is certainly great value.
Would you consider just having it all the time beacuse it is good value and only £4.99 and not even think about cancelling? I only ask because I think pitching it at this price makes you less inclined to cancel. I just think the family bundle although it offers you a large selection is quite expensive in comparison to picking up Disney if you have young family and adding Now TV for the Sky Atlantic shows especially as there is a constant stream pardon the pun of Now TV offers. I think you have to be a dedicated football/sports fan to really end up subscribing to the satellite option.

When I first signed up to Netflix it was so cheap I just didn't bother to cancel, had it been £8.99 I might do as I do now and opt in and out although I can't seem to get through the stuff I'm watching on it at the moment, things such as The Crown which I thought may not be my cup of tea has been absolutely absorbing.
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Old 09-12-2016, 16:57
Jimmy_Barnes
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Did a search for the app on my Fire Stick earlier but nothing came up. Is it just the Fire TV Box it's currently available for?

Think Disney need to increase availability on platforms such as Roku and games consoles if Life is to take off properly. Halving the monthly subscription price is a step in the right direction, but the whole service still feels a little under-promoted and difficult to obtain when compared to streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon.
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Old 09-12-2016, 18:10
David_Flett1
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Did a search for the app on my Fire Stick earlier but nothing came up. Is it just the Fire TV Box it's currently available for?

Think Disney need to increase availability on platforms such as Roku and games consoles if Life is to take off properly. Halving the monthly subscription price is a step in the right direction, but the whole service still feels a little under-promoted and difficult to obtain when compared to streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon.
Yes only on the Fire TV see post:

http://www.aftvnews.com/disney-bring...o-uk-fire-tvs/

I find it incredulous that media companies including Amazon act this way as surely the objective is to encourage as many people as possible to subscribe to streaming services. Netflix is available on just about everything, no need to even think about buying a new stick/box.
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Old 09-12-2016, 18:20
gother
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Would you consider just having it all the time beacuse it is good value and only £4.99 and not even think about cancelling? I only ask because I think pitching it at this price makes you less inclined to cancel. I just think the family bundle although it offers you a large selection is quite expensive in comparison to picking up Disney if you have young family and adding Now TV for the Sky Atlantic shows especially as there is a constant stream pardon the pun of Now TV offers. I think you have to be a dedicated football/sports fan to really end up subscribing to the satellite option.

When I first signed up to Netflix it was so cheap I just didn't bother to cancel, had it been £8.99 I might do as I do now and opt in and out although I can't seem to get through the stuff I'm watching on it at the moment, things such as The Crown which I thought may not be my cup of tea has been absolutely absorbing.
i think it will sit nicely with netflix and amazo as disney life has the Disney movies too and shows although normally 1 season behind SKY which is understandable, they add content often too and a email during trials mentioned a possible live stream in the future too, the live stream won't be Disney channel etc it'll be like shudder just showing movies and shows on a stream. (shudder is a new one too for horror fans).
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Old 09-12-2016, 19:49
Jimmy_Barnes
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Yes only on the Fire TV see post:

http://www.aftvnews.com/disney-bring...o-uk-fire-tvs/

I find it incredulous that media companies including Amazon act this way as surely the objective is to encourage as many people as possible to subscribe to streaming services. Netflix is available on just about everything, no need to even think about buying a new stick/box.
That is just odd, it not being on Fire Stick. I daresay it'll be added eventually, but it's still a restriction for a lot of potential subscribers. Disney should concentrate on getting multi-platform support sorted rather than spend millions on James Corden-voiced TV advertising. No wonder they've had to halve the monthly price, though they're evidently not smart enough to realise that they'd get even more new subscribers if their device requirements were in any way coherent and consistent.
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Old 09-12-2016, 22:29
Peter the Great
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Yes only on the Fire TV see post:

http://www.aftvnews.com/disney-bring...o-uk-fire-tvs/

I find it incredulous that media companies including Amazon act this way as surely the objective is to encourage as many people as possible to subscribe to streaming services. Netflix is available on just about everything, no need to even think about buying a new stick/box.
I have Fire TV and it is not available and posters underneath confirm that so the article is wrong.
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Old 09-12-2016, 22:48
brianeccleston
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It is available for uk firetv

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DisneyLife-...rds=disneylife
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Old 10-12-2016, 08:48
JEFF62
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Its also available on Apple tv boxes.
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Old 11-12-2016, 10:13
noise747
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I had a 3 month free trial of this with my Chromecast i couldn't justify £9.99p/m after my trial but the new price of £4.99 is certainly great value.
Same here, in fact I had a look though it and I did not even use it once in those three months, so for me even £4.99 is not good value, but if you have children it would be.,
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Old 11-12-2016, 14:45
ds_reader
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Generally people have said that it will not happen and that HBO and studios are unlikely to drop SKY but Disney now have done exactly that and launched a service in the UK for just £4.99 a month.
Disney have not dropped Sky!?!

Seems you are still wrong in your opinion!
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Old 12-12-2016, 11:07
David_Flett1
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I have Fire TV and it is not available and posters underneath confirm that so the article is wrong.
There has been a problem with the recent update roll out for the FIRE TV which has been halted but no doubt will be fixed and rolled out soon. This has always been the case with Amazon Fire where aps disappear and come back. However as per my original post it is more the case of Disney Life lanching a dedicated app and now only £4.99 which will probably mean more people will just subscribe without thinking too much about it as was the case when £9.99.

I think the UK is following the path of the US where major cable companies and studios have been forced to react to Netflix and released stand alone or slimmed down services. There are now far more options to cherry pick over having complete packages. For many families I think Disney Life is one of those services that will be a permanent fixture and perhaps HBO, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu will be more popular than most others that people can eirther have permanently or opt in and out of.

I much prefer this personally because although I have Netflix almost all year round, I opt in and out of Amazon and Now TV just to catch a few series. It is a big saving on what I was paying Sky over 17 years.
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Old 13-12-2016, 07:03
Peter the Great
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There has been a problem with the recent update roll out for the FIRE TV which has been halted but no doubt will be fixed and rolled out soon. This has always been the case with Amazon Fire where aps disappear and come back. However as per my original post it is more the case of Disney Life lanching a dedicated app and now only £4.99 which will probably mean more people will just subscribe without thinking too much about it as was the case when £9.99.

I think the UK is following the path of the US where major cable companies and studios have been forced to react to Netflix and released stand alone or slimmed down services. There are now far more options to cherry pick over having complete packages. For many families I think Disney Life is one of those services that will be a permanent fixture and perhaps HBO, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu will be more popular than most others that people can eirther have permanently or opt in and out of.

I much prefer this personally because although I have Netflix almost all year round, I opt in and out of Amazon and Now TV just to catch a few series. It is a big saving on what I was paying Sky over 17 years.
The APP is now there on my Fire TV from yesterday. I have not tried it to see how well it works though.
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Old 13-12-2016, 10:59
David_Flett1
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Disney have not dropped Sky!?!

Seems you are still wrong in your opinion!
Re-read the whole post and not take one sentence out of context. I did not say Disney had dropped SKY I said that the UK was following the path of the US with adopting stand alone streaming services. With regard to Disney I said that they have launched their app on Amazon Fire TV at £4.99. I pointed out that at £4.99 it may make people especially families not even think twice about paying that price as opposed to what it was originally £9.99.

Yes you are correct I have mentioned several times that it makes sense for studios such as HBO to launch stand alone services in the UK but I also put that in context that in the US studios and the major cable networks were complacent and at first didn't take the threat of Netflix seriously. Why is it that almost every studio has released a stand alone service? Why are we seeing slimmed down services from Comcast, Dish and Direct TV? Regarding HBO those comments were made in the context of revenue and that HBO only received £275 million over 5 years from SKY and that was a paltry sum compared to what they could achieve either through a stand alone streaming service, a service running alongside SKY or indeed renewing the contract at a much higher price. I also pointed out in answer to other replies that I did not forsee it happening for at least three yearsand they were not in a position to launch a stand alone service when signing the present deal because they did not have the infrastructure and subscription management in place. They now have that in place so it could happen here in the UK.

I am quite happy to debate or even be corrected on things I post but when pointing things out it has to be put into context of the whole post not just an isolated sentence.
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Old 13-12-2016, 16:00
ds_reader
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I did not say Disney had dropped SKY I said that the UK was following the path of the US with adopting stand alone streaming services.
It is exactly what you wrote!

Out of context ... take more care when you write your verbose posts you frequently trip over your yourself... What you wrote was wrong... Disney have not dropped Sky!!!
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Old 16-12-2016, 18:18
David_Flett1
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Re-edited original post should not have stated disney had dropped SKY. Sorry.

I wasn't sure where best to place this thread as it obviously relates to entertainment services but has wider implications for SKY and indeed the debate on the broadcasting thread concerning Sky's announcement where they will be more selective on sports strategy.

Disney have just launched the Disney Life app on the Amazon Fire TV in the UK which will give access to popular Disney shows and movies. With Netflix and Amazon gaining popularity and more people signing up to Sky's Now TV are we seeing a mirror image of what has happened in the US with studios such as Disney, HBO, Fox, CBS prepared to offer stand alone streaming options alonside cable to arrest the large loss of cable subscribers?

In a number of posts I have made over the last year, generally on the broadcasting thread, I have raised the issue where SKY may be challenged if studios such as HBO follow the path they have chosen in the US and offer a stand alone service either on it's own or alongside Sky and ultimately people may cherry pick stand alone services such as Netflix, Amazon, Now TV instead of the entry bundles on satellite. They may dip in and out binge watching a few seasons before moving on to another service.

Generally people have said that it will not happen and that HBO and studios are unlikely to drop SKY but Disney now have launched an app through the Amazon Fire TV (currently being updated) for just £4.99 a month previously £9.99 Does £4.99 especially for those with families now present a price people will just add without thinking too much? HBO currently receive just £55 million a year from Sky on a five year contract, that isn't exactly a lot of money but HBO didn't have any options after BT didn't consider bidding. That of course may change as since then BT have acquirred AMC, perhaps they may bid for HBO next time round, either way SKY are going to have to part with much more to retain HBO shows on their premium Sky Atlantic channel.

There has also been strong rumours that Disney may consider a bid for Netflix next year as they favour Reed Hastings becoming their next CEO. That would make Disney/Netflix the largest streaming service in the world and make it a hugely popular optionas a stand alone service worldwide.
.....
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Old 16-12-2016, 18:34
David_Flett1
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It is exactly what you wrote!

Out of context ... take more care when you write your verbose posts you frequently trip over your yourself... What you wrote was wrong... Disney have not dropped Sky!!!
I have now corrected that line, my mistake and thank you for pointing it out but perhaps you could have been more polite in the way you did so. However feel free to tell me where else I have tripped myself up? Am I wrong in what is happening with cable in the US? Have HBO, Disney, Fox, CBS and others not launched stand alone services? Have Comcast, Direct TV and Dish not offered slimmed down packages? HBO only received £275 million over 5 years from SKY and yet HBO CEO Richard Plepler after launching his stand alone service in the US stated that he likes having a streaming service where he doesn't have to share a $15 subscription with the cable platform. Was that statement wrong?

I'm only pointing out that the UK could follow suit and the maths seem to make that a strong possibility. Feel free to debate whether I am right or wrong but I do think more people will cherry pick services including having NOW TV instead of the satellite platform especially if SKY get their act together and deliver a NOW TV services that matches Amazon, Netflix for performance ie 1080p.
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