American media and entertainment company Disney has unveiled a new international streaming brand. The brand is called Star. The company said that it will start rolling out Star early next year. Its services, however, be launched in selected markets. The company made the announcement about the Star at its 2020 Investor Day. The development comes close on the heels of the successful launch of Disney+ Hotstar in the Asian market. According to the company, Star will be launched in Europe and other international markets. Its services will be made available from February 23. It will be a fully integrated part of Disney+. Disney+ is a subscription video-on-demand OTT streaming service.
Disney said that Star will have its own branded tile. It will come with a new collection of series, movies, and documentaries. It added that the service will provide more than what contents are made available to the subscribers of Disney+. Notably, Disney+ alone has set a target to release more than 100 titles every year. The new brand will serve as home to thousands of hours of television and movies. It will include content from Disney’s creative studios that include Disney Television Studios, 20th Century Studios, and more. Besides, the services will be enhanced with the addition of local programming from the regions where its services will be launched.
According to Disney, it will launch Star+ exclusively in Latin America. It will come as a standalone service. This, the company said, is being done to take advantage of the region’s portfolio of live sporting events. Meanwhile, the company has claimed that its paid portfolio of direct-to-consumer services has gone past the 137 million-mark subscriptions worldwide. It includes nearly 86.8 million Disney+, over 38.8 million Hulu, and 11.5 million ESPN+ users. Disney’s statement said that success in its streaming services has bolstered the company’s confidence for a DTC-first business model. It expects that the users’ base will hit the 350 million mark by end of 2024. The company has also promised to increase the content output significantly in the coming days to attract more subscribers.
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