Disney Hovers Near Record After Disney+ Star Streaming Rollout
Disney #Disney
Walt Disney shares hovered near their all-time highs on Tuesday after the entertainment and media giant officially launched Star, a new streaming service that caters to more grown-up tastes and that marks the first major expansion to Disney+ since its November 2019 launch.
Disney+ announced it was rolling out Star, a new entertainment hub within its existing streaming service that will offer more than 150 TV series and 500 movies from Disney’s Hulu, 20th Century Studios and the FX channel. The service will be available across Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Thousands of hours of movies and TV shows from Disney General Entertainment Content are featured on the new Star offering. Suppliers under that umbrella include Disney Television Studios (ABC Signature and Twentieth Television), FX Productions, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures.
Star will premiere more than 35 new originals from Disney Television Studios in International markets, with over 35 first-run series set to premiere by the end of the first year.
More content, more control. Determine the content settings for your family members using new parental controls on #DisneyPlusStar, now streaming in select international countries. pic.twitter.com/2peHYBlHq6
— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) February 23, 2021
Among those streaming in select markets at launch are the David E. Kelley-created drama “Big Sky”; “Love, Simon” spinoff series “Love, Victor;” and adult animated sitcom “Solar Opposites,” co-created by Justin Roiland of “Rick & Morty” and Mike McMahan, who was a writer’s assistant on the animated hit.
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The service also plans locally produced originals in select regions.
Library series on Star include “Grey’s Anatomy,” “24,” “The X-Files,” “Lost,” “Family Guy,” “Atlanta,” “Black-ish” and “Scandal.” Films include award-winners from recent years like “The Favourite” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” along with classics such as “Pretty Woman,” “Die Hard 2,” “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Moulin Rouge.”
The new offering comes at a price, however. Monthly rates for Disney+ in Canada will go from C$8.99 to C$11.99; the price increase will take effect for existing subscribers over the summer. Users must be a Disney+ subscriber first to be a subscriber to Star.
Disney previously reported having 86.8 million paid Disney+ subscribers as of Dec. 2, and has plans to increase that number to between 230 million and 260 million by the end of 2024.
At last check, Disney shares were down 1.15% $189.55. The stock ended the trading day Monday up 4.42% at an all-time high of $191.76.
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This article was originally published by TheStreet.