WGA/SAGAFTRA Strike Discussion Thread | SAG Ratifies Contract

[Jonwo]

Just now, Porthos said:

 

Well it's not like D+ didn't try to get more programming.  It's just a lot of it didn't take off/was too focused on the family market where the back catalogue was already satisfying that itch or just didn't have too wide of an appeal. 

 

Gonna be interesting to see how Percy Jackson does coming this winter, though even there it's being reliant on prior IP.

 

Speaking of which, if D+ dropped the ball anywhere it was in not putting enough muscle in developing new things. And it's probably here where the Hulu/D+ split hurts the most as Hulu is still generating the occasional new breakout (like Only Murders, for instance).

 

(Should add that The Santa Clauses was a legitimate breakout for D+ if one looks at total viewers per minutes watched — and perhaps D+'s first real success story outside of Marvel/SW when it comes to original programming)

Globally where Disney+ has all the Hulu programming, it's a much better service compared to the US version. 

 

 

[The GOAT]

1 minute ago, Jonwo said:

Globally where Disney+ has all the Hulu programming, it's a much better service compared to the US version. 

 

 

Are there ads for that version of Disney+ like they have for the lower tier Hulu?

[MovieMan89]

10 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

Well it's not like D+ didn't try to get more programming.  It's just a lot of it didn't take off/was too focused on the family market where the back catalogue was already satisfying that itch or just didn't have too wide of an appeal. 

 

Gonna be interesting to see how Percy Jackson does coming this winter, though even there it's being reliant on prior IP.

 

Speaking of which, if D+ dropped the ball anywhere it was in not putting enough muscle in developing new things. And it's probably here where the Hulu/D+ split hurts the most as Hulu is still generating the occasional new breakout (like Only Murders, for instance).

 

(Should add that The Santa Clauses was a legitimate breakout for D+ if one looks at total viewers per minutes watched — and perhaps D+'s first real success story outside of Marvel/SW when it comes to original programming)

Yeah, Disney has tons of creatives I guarantee would love to do original content. Why they don’t let them on D+ makes no sense when they see non IP stuff is mostly the shows the other services hit it big with. 
 

And they didn’t branch out nearly enough with the Percy Jackson type stuff at the start either. Only more recently when they’ve realized Marvel/Star Wars aren’t just gonna carry. 

[Porthos]

1 minute ago, MovieMan89 said:

Yeah, Disney has tons of creatives I guarantee would love to do original content. Why they don’t let them on D+ makes no sense when they see non IP stuff is mostly the shows the other services hit it big with. 
 

And they didn’t branch out nearly enough with the Percy Jackson type stuff at the start either. Only more recently when they’ve realized Marvel/Star Wars aren’t just gonna carry. 

 

This is starting to get pretty off topic, but the other area D+ shines is in its documentaries/NatGeo material.  The Beatles: Get Back and Light and Magic (ILM) are two examples. 

 

Just those aren't exactly things that get people to bang down the door to watch.

[WittyUsername]

It’s apparent at this point that the problem with Disney+ was that while they had the big IPs, they've been very lacking in variety. There are only so many Marvel and Star Wars shows you can make before people get sick of it. It’s like if Netflix relied almost exclusively on Stranger Things. 

[Arlborn]

10 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

It’s apparent at this point that the problem with Disney+ was that while they had the big IPs, they've been very lacking in variety. There are only so many Marvel and Star Wars shows you can make before people get sick of it. It’s like if Netflix relied almost exclusively on Stranger Things. 

Sometimes I wonder if Netflix actually should try more things out with the  Stranger Things IP, but then I remember that this would probably just lead to generic crap and I feel fine that they haven’t.

[Cap]

 

[reddevil19]

16 hours ago, Jonwo said:

Globally where Disney+ has all the Hulu programming, it's a much better service compared to the US version. 

 

 

And it's literally the only reason I still have Disney+. 

[Willowra]

15 hours ago, WittyUsername said:

It’s apparent at this point that the problem with Disney+ was that while they had the big IPs, they've been very lacking in variety. There are only so many Marvel and Star Wars shows you can make before people get sick of it. It’s like if Netflix relied almost exclusively on Stranger Things. 

But the thing is that they increased the price of D+ from $7.99 to $10.99 last year and still lost only 600k subscribers in the US. They are now increasing the price from $10.99 to $13.99 in October this year, which means that despite the lack of content, people aren't getting sick of it, and they have no problem paying the premium price for D+

[TwoMisfits]

6 minutes ago, Willowra said:

But the thing is that they increased the price of D+ from $7.99 to $10.99 last year and still lost only 600k subscribers in the US. They are now increasing the price from $10.99 to $13.99 in October this year, which means that despite the lack of content, people aren't getting sick of it, and they have no problem paying the premium price for D+

 

Boiling the frog works...until it doesn't.

 

For the 1st price increase to already lose subscribers (in an industry where growth is still king at the numbers they are at DOM)...and then to double down on another much-higher-than-inflation increase...well, we'll see how many they keep, even with cracking down on password sharing to try to get some free riders in.

[JWR]

40 minutes ago, Cap said:

 

 

*sighs*

 

This is going to be a LONG strike....

[Willowra]

5 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

Boiling the frog works...until it doesn't.

 

For the 1st price increase to already lose subscribers (in an industry where growth is still king at the numbers they are at DOM)...and then to double down on another much-higher-than-inflation increase...well, we'll see how many they keep, even with cracking down on password sharing to try to get some free riders in.

I don't think they'll lose many subscribers; most of those who won't like the price hike will move to the "$7.99 with ads plan" instead of canceling D+ altogether. And even if they lose 4 million subscribers, calculate the revenue loss from losing subscribers and the revenue gain from increasing the price

[filmlover]

16 hours ago, WittyUsername said:

It’s apparent at this point that the problem with Disney+ was that while they had the big IPs, they've been very lacking in variety. There are only so many Marvel and Star Wars shows you can make before people get sick of it. It’s like if Netflix relied almost exclusively on Stranger Things. 

Disney+ has actually tried to branch out beyond that but most of their stuff is of the variety that the majority of the Marvel/Star Wars crowd wouldn't be caught dead watching like the High School Musical show that's naturally ending this season before the cast can morph into Ben Platt in the Dear Evan Hansen movie. That or have been shrugged off, like the Willow and National Treasure shows that were canned after one season. They just announced they won't be picking up that Spiderwick Chronicles series which is already made and will be shopped elsewhere.

[Kon]

30 minutes ago, filmlover said:

Disney+ has actually tried to branch out beyond that but most of their stuff is of the variety that the majority of the Marvel/Star Wars crowd wouldn't be caught dead watching like the High School Musical show that's naturally ending this season before the cast can morph into Ben Platt in the Dear Evan Hansen movie. That or have been shrugged off, like the Willow and National Treasure shows that were canned after one season. They just announced they won't be picking up that Spiderwick Chronicles series which is already made and will be shopped elsewhere.

 

Yeah. I was confused when people were saying Disney+ only focus on Marvel/Star Wars.

 

They have been trying a good amount of other shows in Disney+. Unfortunately, these don't seem to be enough popular.

[Mojoguy]

2 hours ago, Cap said:

 

Any actor who signs that is a freaking moron. At least wait until the SAG strike is finished first, when the decision on souless deepfake clones will delayed or heavily regulated.

[Jonwo]

1 hour ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

Boiling the frog works...until it doesn't.

 

For the 1st price increase to already lose subscribers (in an industry where growth is still king at the numbers they are at DOM)...and then to double down on another much-higher-than-inflation increase...well, we'll see how many they keep, even with cracking down on password sharing to try to get some free riders in.

Disney isn't going to collapse because they increased pricing despite your best wishes it does. 

 

 

[TwoMisfits]

22 minutes ago, Jonwo said:

Disney isn't going to collapse because they increased pricing despite your best wishes it does. 

 

 

Why do I want Disney to collapse?  Pointing out large price increases can backfire is reality.  It's been backfiring lately in their parks.  It may backfire on their streaming,  Disney has been pushing price for the decade of Iger/Chapek, but lately, their quality has started to fall off.  Disney has always thought they were the King and could garner that price through rep of their past and current work (and the way they pushed theaters in the 2010s did work very well for them).  But eventually, that kinda strategy has limits.  I think this price increase is gonna be that limit.  They think folks will fall down to the commercial plans - I think they may just fall altogether.  And either way, they won't grow DOM.  

[Dementeleus]

The only reason I still have D+ is I’m grandfathered in on their original introductory 3.50/mo price. And I’m sure there are plenty like me as well, locked in at that price. 

[TwoMisfits]

1 minute ago, Plain Old Tele said:

The only reason I still have D+ is I’m grandfathered in on their original introductory 3.50/mo price. And I’m sure there are plenty like me as well, locked in at that price. 

Is the grandfathering ending or will they let you keep it once October passes?

 

[ZeroHour]

One of the interesting pieces to all of this is that the streamers are making more off the people they get to sign up for the ad supported plans, even at these higher prices for ad free, so that’s become the part of the business they most want to grow. 
 

Disney has definitely been hurt by trying to support and differentiate two different major streaming services in the US. I don’t think we’d be talking as much about their breadth of content if D+ had brought people The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, Justified: City Primeval, and the Futurama revival this summer.