Disney and Starz have reached an agreement to allow Star Wars films to stream on Disney+. It seemed like somewhat of a lost cause with Disney not holding the streaming rights. But, they were able to convince Starz to turn a blind eye, in return, they will be able to show advertisements for its own streaming service at the end of registration for certain users.
According to The Verge, the ad will show up only once after signing up to either Disney+ or ESPN+. This announcement does hamper on their plans for it, which was touted as an ad-free, subscription-funded service.
This was bound to happen eventually, Disney has spent years making streaming deals with Netflix, Starz, and other services. Now that they want to break off from third-party subscriptions, they have to deal with their past contracts, which may lead to more headaches, especially with the deadline fastly approaching.
Disney is far from the only service in peril. Multiple other channels including WarnerMedia and NBC Universal are forming their own services to combat Netflix’s firm hold on the streaming world. WarnerMedia had to shelve out multiple millions to get Friends and ER from Netflix. NBC Universal is also doing the same with The Office.
Disney+ is raring for launching next Tuesday with multiple originals and classics at launch. NBC Universal’s Peacock and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max is set to launch next spring.
