Streaming Wars: Disney+ and Netflix face-to-face

Disney+ and Netflix are neck-deep in competition, dubbed the streaming wars, with the former having proved to be a powerful siren of its own by bagging more than 86 million paying subscribers. For the longest time, Netflix has been the subscription streaming service to beat, and now it will be toppled by Disney Plus.

Marc Randolph, Netflix Co-founder, feels Disney has really fought its way up into a really, really strong position. “What I really think is happening is, we’re kind of seeing the new rules of the game developing. This is not just announcing. This is not just having a promotion. What you have to demonstrate is that you have got the content, content, content,” he told Yahoo Finance. “You have got to have a continual slate of new things coming out. Its really saying, this is a war of people who are prepared to make the content.”

The audience growth for Disney+, Hulu, ESPN and India’s Hotstar comes as the parent company’s travel and amusement park business suffered, and shows the entertainment giant is gaining ground on leading streaming service Netflix’s 203 million subscribers.

Besides movies and series, Netflix has also done documentaries, and Disney has pretty much been on brand in the content it has pushed out. Randolph believes consumers are going to settle down on the three or four or maybe five streaming services that are their primary outlets. He highlighted that Netflix has a big leg in terms of its diversity.

“And it’s not just diversity of genre, it’s also their geographical diversity and the tremendous slate of content which is non-US originated,” Randolph said. “But, you know, listen, Netflix, I think is announcing 70 movies for the year. I mean, that’s more than Disney and Warner combined. The people who are going to have a problem are the ones who are trying to fit into a niche. Look at Disney Plus, which I think was the number two downloaded app in the last month or so. I mean, they are really trying not to own the blockbuster tentpole stuff. I think they are going for treadmill TV. They have “Amy Schumer Learns to Cook Uncensored” and “Judi Dench’s Wild Borneo Adv”. I mean, how does that compete with “The Mandalorian”?

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In regards to Apple TV Plus, Randolph believes that if Apple spent one-quarter as much time on content as they do on giveaways, they really could play. “And they really have no excuse. I mean, they have, what, a $2 trillion market cap? They have $200 billion in cash. But they are still not in with both feet. You know, they have really got to do the entrepreneurial thing, and they have got to walk up to the edge of the cliff, and they have got to jump.”