Disney set to launch new Star branded streaming service in 2021

The Walt Disney Company has announced plans for a new general entertainment streaming service under the Star brand.

Mooted for a 2021 launch, Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Office of The Walt Disney Comany spoke about the new strategy at its earnings call on Wednesday. He said, “We plan to launch international direct to consumer general entertainment offerings under the Star brand in the calendar year 2021. The offering will be routed to the content we own from the critically acclaimed production engines and library of ABC Studios, Fox Television, SearchLight Pictures and 21st Century Films.

In many markets, the offering will be fully integrated into their established Disney Plus platforms from both marketing and technology perspective and it will be distributed under the Star brand which has been successfully utilized by the company for the other general entertainment platform launches particularly with Disney Plus Hotstar in India. “The fact that Disney Plus has grown rapidly both domestically and globally clearly demonstrates our content value. Through the addition of Star branded general entertainment offering we are further extending our value of content internationally,” Chapek added.

He also confirmed that Disney+ Hotstar will foray into Indonesia on 5th September and will be rolled out to ten other economies of the world, by the end of the year. He said, “Our full portfolio of Direct- to- Consumer businesses including Disney Plus, ESPN and Hulu combined global reach now exceeds 100 million paid subscriptions. The success has made us even more confident about the future of our Direct to Consumer businesses.”

Chapek said that Disney+ has now surpassed 60.5 million subscribers globally.