Disney is currently working on a Disney Plus revamp. After various price hikes on the platform, the company wants to make the experience better for its subscribers. This unlikely includes the Hotstar region so don’t get your hopes up. A new report claims that Disney is also looking at adding live channels to the platform in the form of “always-on channels”.
The company is aiming to form these live channels around popular Disney franchises including Star Wars and Marvel. These channels would then play a series of content on a 24-hour basis that viewers can tune into. These channels will also contain adverts similar to normal TV.
Disney isn’t the first platform to introduce live channels on its platform. Services in the US like Pluto and Tubi already do this. It eliminates the “choice” of picking what to watch and you have to simply tune in to whatever is playing at the time.
However, the Disney Plus format may struggle a bit with this. If these channels are playing Marvel and Star Wars content, what’s stopping users from watching the same thing by picking it from the catalogue?
The report says that Disney seemingly wants to keep subscribers glued to their TVs and devices as much as possible and these live channels aim to do so. Recent consumer studies say that these live channels have garnered more viewership than the traditional way of watching streamed content.
Streaming platforms such as Tubi, which hosts 24-hour channels have proven to be highly successful. Studies show more people have been watching these channels than other content on Peacock Max and Paramount Plus.
Keep in mind that the report also says you’ll need a Disney Plus subscription to watch these channels despite the content being broken up by further adverts. Disney has yet to comment on these reports.
