TBH, I don't think Disney+ can "complete" with Netflix, in the grand scheme of things. What it can do is given them a higher return for their intellectual property, which is what I think that it's for. They just don't want Netflix or other streaming services getting a cut of their profits.
Hulu, imo, is where they want to compete with Netflix.
"Always listen to the crazy scientist with a weird van or armful of blueprints and diagrams." -- Vibranium
This is ridiculous. There are starving children around the world. Why can't they have those billions?
I actually think Netflix isn't as well off as many think most people don't care about video quality they care about content with Streaming Services.
Now we have no clue what Comcast Universal will look like when they launch their Streaming Service so for the moment they're out of the conversation. Niche Streaming Services like CBS All Access, Britbox, Shudder, or even DC Universe are also not relevant at the moment this will change with CBS All Access if or more likely when Sheri Redstone gets her way and merges CBS Corporation and Viacom back together putting CBS and Paramount back under one roof.
The big five right now are Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Warnermedia, and Apple which I think is pretty dead in the water good talent but absolutely no library and is just a glorified network with big names.
Warnermedia with it's library and also probably adding DC Universe will do fine.
Amazon Prime has a decent amount of original shows but no library they own but since Prime is also used for other services like free shipping it will help them.
Disney+ is IMO the new big dog especially if the mouse packages Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN together that amount of content given all the amount of IP's Disney now owns and original shows on both Disney+ and Hulu will benefit them to the top position.
Netflix down the road has an issue like Amazon Prime they have only a small library of original content but unlike Amazon doesn't offer other services. Also while their shows are great their films are very much like Atari in the 80's a little good and a lot of mediocre to bad. Once everyone starts their own Streaming services and Netflix starts losing lots of others content I think they'll no longer be the Juggernaut they now are.
Based on what The Wall Street Journal has written about Disney's moves over the last few years, they've been terrified of Amazon and Netflix as they've watched what those two have done to TV networks and movie studios. Their goals are two fold:
- Get control of as much content as they can before Amazon does
- Get direct access to their viewers instead of letting Amazon and Netflix control their access
So, yeah, from Disney's view, they really do need all that. Either they become The Biggest Monster In Media, or they wait for the new Biggest Monster In Media to eat them.
The main thing here is Disney now has a service under their control where they can show stuff that might not be what they want to have on Disney+. This gives them a place for all the Fox movie properties they now control and for their ABC and Fox TV stuff too. They were never going to show stuff like Lucifer or the Bachelor on Disney+, but now they have a home for it.
Netlfix is worried. They are losing all their Disney stuff sooner or later and with more services coming up they will continue to lose things. The office is their most popular show, and once Comcast gets their service up and running you know they are not going to renew their deals with Netflix for all the NBC shows. If Amazon hits with their Lord of the Rings or Wheel of Time shows Netflix could be in even more trouble. Netflix needs it next Stranger Things sooner rather then latter at this point.
Some of the best films I've seen this year have been Netflix Originals.
Netflix needs to keep up with that stuff, and do some bigger shows. Stuff like Stranger Things and Altered Carbons. Let David Lynch do whatever the hell he wants.