Disney boss Bob Iger has decided that Marvel and Star Wars films will only be released in 2019 with the announced streaming service from Disney, no longer with Netflix. Investors are reacting as Disney is under pressure.
Speaking at the Media, Communication & Entertainment Conference in Los Angeles, Iger revealed on Thursday further details on the planned streaming services of Disney. According to this, the streaming platform will be launched in the USA in late 2019. In some countries the start might be possible earlier. In addition to the existing content catalog, he announced four to five new Disney series as well as three to four new films.
It is also clear now that the new films of Marvel and Lucasfilm (“Star Wars”) will only be available exclusively from the Disney service from 2019 onwards. Due to its own streaming service plans, the company had already announced that the exclusive partnership with Netflix would be phased out. The content of this is unclear.
Although there had been negotiations between the two entertainment giants to the end, Wall Street had not had any great hopes. There is already the opinion that Netflix is now big enough and the loss of a single partner does not hit the office.
Current series hits like “Luke Cage”, “Iron Fist” or “The Defendes” are based on Marvel comics, but will continue to be seen at Netflix. These series were produced as Netflix Originals themselves, which is regulated by a separate agreement with Marvel.
In addition, Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger had pointed out that Disney content is already available at Netflix in only four countries, namely in the USA, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. In the major growth markets, Disney content would already not play any role. This has helped digest the initial concern about the co-operation with Disney and potential competitors.
There were bad news, however, for the Disney shareholders. For the fiscal year 2017, which ends in September, Iger expects only a profit on the previous year’s level. Analysts had recently predicted a 3% increase. As the reason, the Disney boss pointed to increased costs for transmission rights and a weaker performance of the last Star Wars movie “Rouge One”.
At Disney, investors have reacted disappointedly to the weak profit forecast. The stock has gone about 4.4 percent weaker from the US trade. Although the chart thus continues to deteriorate, there is no need for action in the opinion of the SHAREHOLDERS. The strike price is 70 euros.
The stock of Netflix has hardly responded to the announcement about the Marvel and Star Wars content. After the correction in August, the price has meanwhile formed a bottom and offset some of the losses. The all-time high is thus again within reach. Investors remain involved.
