I hope you've enjoyed watching Rogue One: A Star Wars Story over and over again on Netflix. It may not be around for you to do that much longer. In fact, you won't be watching anything from Disney on Netflix much longer. While Disney currently has an exclusive deal with the streaming service, it was revealed today by CEO Bob Iger that they'll be ending the deal in 2019 in favor of their own service.
Starting in 2019 you'll be able to get all new Disney releases, from the kiddie animated stuff like Moana to new Pixar, Star Wars movies and, yes, new Marvel movies, on Disney's network. They've also spent a whopping $1.58B to purchase BAMTech, whose streaming technology powers Major League Baseball's streaming service. So they're getting all of their ducks (no pun intend, Donald) in a row for the big change. What we don't know is what this means for the movies currently on Netflix. Presumably, Disney will remove them once Netflix's licenses expire.
This kinda sucks, and I hate that every studio, every network, every entity, thinks they need to have their own streaming service. But it's also pretty hard to argue with Disney taking this step. They have one of the largest libraries of titles, and the most popular brands in the world. This is going to be a huge, VERY lucrative move for them. Imagine if the only way we have a chance to watch their Marvel flicks, other than through home release, is by subscribing? Cha-ching!
