Research Outline

Disney + Subscription Partners

Goals

To identify a list of Disney + subscription partners and associated deals, to develop insights into Disney + go-to-market and partner strategy.

Early Findings

Disney + Partnerships

  • Disney + partnered with Verizon in the United States to offer select wireless and internet users a free year of streaming. There is some indication that the Disney + offering is drawing new subscribers to Verizon.
  • Disney + partnered with Canal Plus in France, who will be the sole provider of Disney + content in France. Online providers will have to go through Canal Plus if they are interested in offering Disney + to subscribers.
  • Disney + partnered with Comcast Sky in the UK and Ireland. The positioning of the partnership on Sky TV website is focuses on ease of access and content: "Never before seen movies, series and documentaries in one place, easy." The deal is a non-exclusive, multi-year, partnership, which keeps the door open for Disney + to also partner with mobile providers in the UK, such as Virgin or BT.
  • Disney announced in November, 2019, that a deal was reached with Amazon to stream Disney + on Amazon Fire TV.
  • In March 2020, Disney + partnered with O2, who will offer 6 months of Disney + free to new subscribers and a discount to existing providers.
  • In March 2020, Disney confirmed a partnership of Disney + with Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) in Italy. TIM's messaging focuses on the Disney + content: "The best of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, for the whole family." Kevin Mayer, Chairman of The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment, discussed the "unique experience" and "amazing storytelling" Disney + would be bringing to Italian viewers.
  • Disney + announced a partnership with Delta in December 2019, as the exclusive airline partner to carry Disney + content. Delta highlighted the partnership as a way to bring "new and innovative" entertainment offerings to their customers in flight.
  • Disney Plus and Telecfonica's Movistar confirmed a strategic alliance in March 2020. Emilio Gayo, Telefonica CEO said noted the "original content" provided by Disney + and said about the partnership, "Disney Plus enriches the experience of Movistar customers, with exceptional storytelling from five incredible Disney brands."
  • There were indications Disney + was looking to partner with Opus or Telstra in Australia, though nothing appears to be confirmed.
  • Disney + also entered into distribution deals with a number of device partners, including Roku, Samsung, Alphabet's Google TV, Sony (Playstation), and Microsoft (XBox). While specific details of these deals were not made public, they may involve a share of revenue from subscriptions or ad space on Disney +.
  • Disney + also partnered with Lyft and Urbanstems as part of their national launch.

Summary of Early Findings Relevant to the Goals

  • In this first hour, we were able to identify a number of global distribution partnerships, as well as brand and promotion partnerships for Disney +.
  • We provided details of the partnership deals to the extent they were publicly available.
  • Given the number of partnerships found in the first hour, while not an exhaustive list, it is unlikely future research will reveal a significant number of additional partnerships.
  • Next steps reflect the information we were able to uncover in early research.