Disney Plus launches today in 7 European markets
Disney+ is now available in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland and will launch in France on April 7.
“Launching in seven markets simultaneously marks a new milestone for Disney+, “ Kevin Mayer, Chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International, said. “We humbly hope that this service can bring some much-needed moments of respite for families during these difficult times.”
In light of concerns regarding the current ability of certain broadband infrastructure to handle the anticipated consumer demand for Disney+, the service will now feature a lower overall bandwidth utilization by at least 25 percent.
Disney launched its streaming service in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands on Nov. 12, 2019; and in Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico on Nov. 19, 2019. It is the exclusive home to more than 500 films, 26 original movies and series, and thousands of television episodes from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and more.
Today’s launch enables audiences in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland to stream Disney+ on nearly all major mobile and connected TV devices, including gaming consoles, streaming media players and smart TVs. Disney+ features commercial-free viewing, up to four concurrent streams, unlimited downloads on up to 10 devices and personalized recommendations. Subscribers may set up to seven different profiles, and parents have the ability to set Kids Profiles that have an easy-to-navigate, child-friendly interface to access age-appropriate content.
Consumers can subscribe to Disney+ directly or via in-app purchase from the following platforms and devices:
- Amazon (Fire TV devices, Fire TV Edition smart TVs and Fire Tablets)
- Apple (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV, and fully integrated with the Apple TV app in the UK and Germany; customers can subscribe to Disney+ via in-app purchase)
- Google (Android phones, Android TV devices, Google Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices)
- LG Smart TVs with webOS
- Microsoft (Xbox One)
- Roku (Roku® streaming players and Roku TV™ models) in the UK and Ireland, beginning today, and in France, beginning April 7
- Samsung Smart TVs
- Sony / Sony Interactive Entertainment (Android-based Sony TVs and PlayStation®4)
Through a comprehensive distribution plan and several strategic agreements, Disney+ is also available across multiple premier distributors in Europe with regional deals including:
- Deutsche Telekom in Germany
- O2 in the UK
- Telefonica in Spain
- TIM in Italy
- Canal+ in France, beginning April 7
Disney also has a retail distribution deal with Sky, making Disney+ available in the UK and Ireland on Sky Q, to be followed by NOW TV in the coming months.
Pricing for Disney+ has been confirmed at £5.99/€6.99 per month, or £59.99/€69.99 for an annual subscription. Following its initial European launch markets, additional Western Europe markets, including Belgium, the Nordics and Portugal, will follow in summer 2020.
