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Disney+ no longer offers a free trial period
Disney+ has pulled the plug on a promotion allowing new users a week-long free trial of the streaming service. The free trial offer ended sometime this week. However, Disney+ had stopped advertising the trial weeks ago, according to CNET.
The best subscription gifts for new grads
Among the dozens of subscription services and boxes available now, particular ones are quite useful for new grads. Here are the best subscriptions you can gift to new graduates.
'The Simpsons' aspect ratio problem will get fixed (again) on May 28th
Next week Disney+ will start streaming old episodes of 'The Simpsons' in their original 4:3 format
TikTok's new CEO is Disney's former streaming leader
TikTok has picked Disney's streaming head Kevin Mayer as its new CEO.
'Hamilton' is coming to Disney+ on July 3rd, a year earlier than expected
The filmed version of the megahit musical was originally scheduled for a theatrical release in October 2021.
Disney confirms Star Wars series from 'Russian Doll' co-creator
Disney has confirmed that a Star Wars streaming series is coming from 'Russian Doll' co-creator Leslye Headland.
Disney+ will start streaming 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' on May 4th
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will start streaming on Disney+ two months early.
A Disney+ 'Star Wars' series is coming from a 'Russian Doll' co-creator
'Russian Doll' co-creator Leslye Headland is producing a female-centered 'Star Wars' series for Disney+.
Disney+ is preparing a 'The Mandalorian' behind-the-scenes series
If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the second season of The Mandalorian, which arrives this fall, you may be happy to learn that Disney+ is working on a new behind-the-scenes docuseries about the show. The eight-episode series, Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, will include interviews with cast and crew, never-before-seen footage and roundtable conversations hosted by The Mandalorian’s executive producer Jon Favreau. The series premieres on May 4th, Star Wars Day, and new episodes will be available every Friday -- Disney+ will also drop the last chapter in The Clone Wars series on May 4th.
Disney+ racks up 50 million subscribers in five months
International expansion and overall demand helped Disney+ reach a large audience relatively quickly.
Today is the last day for Europeans to save on Disney+
Today is the final day for Europeans to sign up for Disney+ at a discount. You can currently get yearly access to the home of Baby Yoda and company for £49.99/€59.99 as opposed to £59.99/€69.99. The discount is part of a limited-time promotion Disney is using to entice people to sign up before the platform launches in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Switzerland tomorrow and France on April 7th.
Disney+ will limit video quality for its wider European launch
Disney+ hasn't yet gone live for new customers across Europe, but already the streaming service is taking steps to reduce its impact on internet providers' infrastructure in light of the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, Disney Chairman Kevin Mayer confirmed that it will join Netflix, YouTube and Amazon in reducing its "overall bandwidth utilization by at least 25 percent" in all of the EU markets where Disney+ will launch on March 24th.
Pixar's 'Onward' hits Disney+ on April 3rd amid theater closures
Just like every other line of business right now, the entertainment industry is scrambling to figure out how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Several blockbusters, including the latest James Bond adventure No Time To Die and Marvel's Black Widow have been delayed, while production on many others has been suspended. Some studios have decided to make recent movies available as digital rentals only a few weeks after hitting theaters or even on the same day they arrive in cinemas.
Disney+ will start streaming 'Frozen 2' on Sunday, three months early
In a move that feels in parts altruistic and business savvy, Disney has bumped up the Disney+ streaming release date for Frozen 2 to this weekend. Many families are unexpectedly home and certainly feeling the stress of everything going on due to coronavirus, and could probably use a break to watch the much-loved movie. It's also a high-profile exclusive for Disney's streaming service, which has wanted for a hit of its own ever since The Mandalorian season one came to an end.
Disney+ reportedly scrapped a 'Tron' series from John Ridley
As scarce as Disney+ originals might be at the moment, Disney is apparently being picky about just what reaches its streaming service. Hollywood Reporter sources claim Disney+ developed and ditched three originals in the past year, including an unannounced Tron series from 12 Years a Slave producer John Ridley. The show had reportedly been in the works for "several months" even though it hadn't been officially greenlit, the insiders said. It's not certain why the life-inside-a-computer series didn't survive -- the other two shows were cut for wildly varying reasons.
Disney CEO Bob Iger steps down after getting Disney+ off the ground
After guiding Disney through the acquisition of Fox and launching its direct-to-consumer efforts that center around Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu, CEO Bob Iger is stepping down from his post. "Effective immediately," former Disney Parks Chairman Bob Chapek is taking over and will report to Iger while he serves as executive chairman and leads "creative endeavors" through the end of his contract next year. In a statement announcing the move, Iger said ""With the successful launch of Disney's direct-to-consumer businesses and the integration of Twenty-First Century Fox well underway, I believe this is the optimal time to transition to a new CEO." As far as Chapek's experience, he's worked there for more than two decades, and the press release notes that he spearheaded the infamous "Disney Vault" strategy for handling its iconic films as they were released for home viewing on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray. Asked on a call with investors about the timing of the move, Iger said that it made sense to turn over day-to-day management of the company to Chapek so that he can use his remaining time to focus on creative aspects of the company. According to him, the move wasn't accelerated "for any particular reason." With Chapek continuing to report to Iger, it doesn't seem like things materially change at Disney much right now, but the move is announced right after the company revealed Disney+ has already grown to over 26 million subscribers. It's also preparing to launch widely in Europe, and we're still months out from the arrival of The Mandalorian season two and tons of Baby Yoda merchandise.
The Disney+ app is finally coming to Vizio TVs
Vizio is rolling out an update to its smart TVs that'll add a proper Disney+ app to the SmartCast platform. Until now, Vizio owners have had to cast Disney+ to their TV using Chromecast or AirPlay 2.
'Black Panther' comes to Disney+ on March 4th
Depending on who you ask, everyone has a different favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie, but it's fair to say Black Panther is in a lot of people's top five. After a notable absence from Disney+, the 2018 film will make its way to the streaming service in the US on March 4th. Conversely, this means if you're a Netflix subscriber and you haven't seen the movie yet, you're running out of time to do so.
Disney+ has already netted 28.6 million subscribers
Disney's start on direct-to-customer streaming came out of the gate with the bang, as the company reported it had 26.5 million paid subscribers for Disney+ (PDF) by the end of 2019. ESPN+ grew to 6.6 million subscribers from 1.4 million last year, while Hulu has 30 million customers total, with 3.2 million of them signing up for live TV services. On a call with investors, CEO Bob Iger reported that Disney+ is still growing, and is up to 28.6 million customers worldwide as of Monday. Iger also announced that Disney+ will launch in India via the company's HotStar service and said Hulu could launch internationally in 2021. On the call with investors, Iger specified that season two of The Mandalorian will debut in October, as well as shows the MCU shows it featured in Super Bowl ads. Falcon and the Winter Soldier will launch in August, and Wandavision arrives in December. He also said that the Star Wars show will run beyond two seasons, with a possibility of "infusing it with more characters and taking those characters in their own direction in terms of series." Executives said they don't expect the next "significant" domestic growth to happen until those series launch. According to the CEO, people weren't just watching the viral series, with over 65 percent of viewers watching ten other things on the platform. Interestingly, he also said that the current priority of Star War is TV as opposed to theatrical releases.
Hulu CEO steps down as it integrates with Disney's streaming plans
Now that Hulu is part of Disney's streaming triumvirate with ESPN+ and Disney+, there's a reorganization at the top and Randy Freer will step down from his role as CEO. He took over in late 2017, but now it will join the others under direct oversight from Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International chairman Kevin Mayer. We'll see what changes come in the future for Hulu, as it previously stood alone as a rival to Netflix, but now is a part of a larger strategy. Disney CEO Bob Iger already announced plans for "FX on Hulu" programming that's overseen by FX boss John Landgraf, which came after Disney pulled the plug on a standalone FX streaming service. The Hollywood Reporter point out that Hulu's scripted original shows are overseen by Disney TV Studios chairman Dana Walden, while Deadline reports it's expected to hire a business leader to oversee the division.
