Disney announces streaming service; Netflix loses $8 bn market cap

Multimedia giant Walt Disney announced the launch of its streaming service called ‘Disney Plus’ on April 11. It is set to debut on November 12 this year at $6.99 per month or $70

For starters, Disney will offer content from its Walt Disney studios, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. The cartoon-maker will add 25 original television series and 10 original films during the course of first year, a statement said. Additionally, Disney+ announced that all 30 seasons of The Simpsons will be available on the service on day one.

Disney’s announcement proved to be a costly affair for its rival Netflix Inc, which lost over $8 billion in market capitalisation on Thursday (April 11). Netflix shares fell as much as 5% to $349.36 on Friday morning (April 12), sending its market as low as $152.5 billion.

Amazon’s Prime Video currently charges $9 per month and has over 100 million subscribers.

With over 240 million subscribers combined, across the world, Netflix and Prime video have a strong user base. However, their current monthly subscription of $11 and $9 seem disadvantaged compared to Disney Plus. The deep pocketed Disney seems to be willing to spend money as it moves to grab a share.