News Shorts: Warner TV To Rollout As A Free-To-Air Channel In The Czech Republic, Come Back To Me To Rollout On Telemundo Across Africa And Historical Drama We Were The Lucky Ones To Stream On Disney+ In April

Warner TV expands to other parts of Europe

The Czech Republic will have a brand new free-to-air TV channel next month as Warner TV launches on 2 April. It will be managed as part of the local Czech linear Warner Bros. Discovery portfolio.

Vaclav Palecek, Distribution and Business Development at Warner Bros. Discovery in the Czech Republic & Slovakia, said: “Starting April, Czech viewers will be able to enjoy the wide range of content, including movies and series, on Warner TV. We are close to launching our first free-to-air channel in the market and we will bring a great content library on-air for all the viewers, from classical films to popular series.”

In the Czech Republic, Warner Bros. Discovery operates 18 pay TV linear channels (Discovery, Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2, Eurosport 4K, HGTV, TLC, Travel Channel, Investigation Discovery, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, CNN, Food Network, Animal Planet, HBO & HBO 2 & HBO 3, Cinemax & Cinemax 2) and the HBO Max streaming platform.

William Levy returns to Telemundo 

For its 2023 upfronts earlier last year, Telemundo announced William Levy was joining its star roster line-up in the new original romantic series Come Back To Me (Vuelve a Mi). It is set to launch April 8 at 22:00 replacing Game Of Lies.

In Vuelve a Mí, Levy is Santiago, whose love interest is actress Samadhi Zendejas, in her first leading role as Nuria.

The drama, set in Ciudad de Juárez and Ciudad de México, follows Nuria, a woman of humble means, who begins a relationship with Braulio (Ferdinando Valencia) without knowing he is one of the owners of the company where she works to support her son and sister. The lives of the main characters begin to intertwine after the tragic kidnapping of Nuria's son Andrés. And when she least expects it, Santiago (Levy) enters her life to become the great love of her life and the pillar that keeps her hope alive.

New Hulu original launching soon

Disney has announced that the upcoming original series, “We Were The Lucky Ones”, will be coming to Disney+ globally on April 17th 2024.

Based on Georgia Hunter’s New York Times bestselling novel, the television adaptation of “We Were the Lucky Ones” is a limited series inspired by the incredible true story of one Jewish family separated at the start of World War II, determined to survive and reunite. “We Were the Lucky Ones” demonstrates how in the face of the twentieth century’s darkest moment, the human spirit can endure and even thrive. The series is a tribute to the triumph of hope and love against all odds.

The series stars Joey King, Logan Lerman, Hadas Yaron, Henry-Lloyd Hughes, Amit Rahav, Sam Woolf, Michael Aloni, Moran Rosenblatt, Eva Feiler, Lior Ashkenazi, and Robin Weigert.

Reminder: Disney's FOX Channels Seen In Portugal And On MultiChoice's DStv In Angola And Mozambique Rebrand To Star This February

The creative and graphic concept of the new brands was developed in Portugal. This work will be implemented in all countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East where Fox channels are present.

From February 7th, the Fox channel will become Star Channel, maintaining the same programming and position on the operators' schedules, announced Walt Disney. 

The remaining Fox channels will also change their name and image: Fox Life will be Star Life, Fox Crime will be Star Crime, Fox Movies will be Star Movies and Fox Comedy will be Star Comedy. The date was advanced on Wednesday simultaneously with the launch of the multimedia campaign “A Brilliant Change”, which was developed and implemented by the creative studio and marketing and communications team at The Walt Disney Company Portugal (TWDC). 

The campaign will be present until February in digital, television, out of home (OOH), cinema, radio, press, press office and content creators. “The Star Channel brand continues the Fox legacy, presenting itself as bold, confident, current and inclusive. With a bold and contemporary voice, the channels will continue to be the destination for major international series and films, maintaining the most watched titles on pay TV in Portugal, the same distribution, the same position on the operators' schedules and the same positioning in the market that they currently have Fox channels”, says in a press release. 

The creative and graphic concept of the new brands that replace Fox channels were developed in Portugal by the TWDC Portugal creative studio in collaboration with local agencies and studios, with the visual concept focusing on “an original detail of the logo , the central cut, which inspired the creation of a luminous 'shooting star', which will guide the public through the channels' programming.” 

This Portuguese work will be implemented in all countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East where Fox channels are present, “thus exporting Portuguese talent throughout the region”.

Development Alert: Hulu Rumoured To Be Replacing Disney+ Star Internationally, FX Might Replace Linear Counterparts

Last year, Disney managed to acquire Comcast's stake in the Hulu streaming service with plans underway to merge the content with the existing offering seen on Disney+. The merger would put it in a competitive position with existing brands like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Internationally, this was never an issue as the latter was distributed by Star which Disney saw as alternative trademark to Hulu. After attempting to get Hulu to more territories but blocked due to Comcast's stake in the streamer the trademark might get some time of day.

With nothing holding Disney back at this point, Star could be folded under Hulu I mean the idea wouldn't seem far fetched. Various Hulu originals like Only Murders In The Building and Blue Sky had all been trademarked as Disney+ and not Star as seen when it was introduced last year.

Disney had tried to roll out Hulu in Latin America and Asia before quickly scrubbing out any mention of the brand across their platforms.

Hulu is more knowledgeable brand although it wasn't viewed outside of the United States consumers would be able to familiarise themselves with the content. Star was more knowledgeable in India and to be frank Disney kind of damaged the trademark in parts of the world.

Based in India, Disney Star operates a number of linear channels across the world which feature various Bollywood productions. While the UK opted for an alternative trademark Utsav the rest of the world kept Star which would have caused confusion to those who view both brands.

Disney also used the Star trademark for various linear channels across Latin America and as seen in Europe the opted for an alternative brand name, FX. It wouldn't seem far fetched if FX were to replace the Star brand therefore returning Star to its former glory in India.

Star+ Will Be Integrated Under Disney+ In Brazil And Latin America By 2024

A major change in the streaming market will take place in Brazil in 2024. Disney will close the Star+ service application and unify the platform with Disney+ in the second half of next year. 

Currently, Disney sells the two subscriptions separately and also on Combo+, which offers both platforms for a single price. It is also possible to subscribe to services at a lower price using the Meli+ subscription, from Mercado Livre. 

The unification of streaming services was confirmed by Disney in a press release. The action seems like a natural step for the company, which will also do something similar in the United States, with the Hulu platform. 

The Star+ application will be closed in Brazil and Latin America. 

Changes for the consumer 

According to official information, Disney will announce more details about the merger in the future, including issues such as the price and destination of Star+ subscribers, which will be closed. 

For consumers who already subscribe to Combo+, the change will bring more convenience during use. Currently, Disney+ and Star+ use applications that are practically the same, but have separate catalogs. 

While the Disney-named service focuses on the company's productions, Pixar and Marvel, Star is usually the home of Fox and sports. 

Currently, Star+ has productions from American channels such as FX and ABC, in addition to sports programming from ESPN. With the merger, this content will be centralized in just one application in Brazil and Latin America. 

Thus, in addition to bringing all the Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars films, Disney+ will also feature sports content and award-winning television productions. 

Development Alert: FOX And FOX Life Will Become FX And FX Life Across Baltics And CIS By January 2024, More International Disney Channels Are Expected To Close

FX returns to the Nordic and Baltics region

The Nordic and Baltic branches of The Walt Disney Company will adopt a new name and a striking visual identity on January 24, 2024, when FOX and FOX Life become FX and FX Life. FX and FX Life continue to deliver familiar and beloved content, bringing premium entertainment, including the best international series, to local audiences. 

“When FOX and FOX Life become FX and FX Life, our overall entertainment content will align with the Disney+ streaming platform while continuing to offer fans their favorite stories. This includes global hit series such as Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, This is Us, Castle, 9-1-1 and more. 

We look forward to bringing new shows and high-quality entertainment to our Estonian audience next year," said Hans van Rijn, SVP and Head of The Walt Disney Company Nordic & Baltic. He added, "Linear television remains a priority for us, enabling our audiences to experience exciting content from the many world-class studios in the Disney family." 

The FX brand has been refined and adapted to meet the needs of local television, while maintaining the bold and confident legacy created by FOX.

Disney is pulling the cord of more TV channels

Since Disney+ inception back in 2019, Disney has closed various Disney Channels across the UK, Asia and Italy while a majority of channels still reside within Europe and Africa. Part of which still have no access to Disney+ and are therefore just losing out on content.

Theoretically, it was estimated that Disney could close their remaining linear offering by 2025 but Disney+ is still not sustainable in some of the areas launched. The linear offering is one way to help sustain the streamer and if possible lure potential audiences.

Despite the setback, Disney was still able to close it's remaining linear offering in Asia who also handle operations in the Middle East and North Africa. Since then a majority of international feeds are aligned/managed within Southern Africa (also known as Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Although there's no official confirmation, National Geographic People (Nat Geo People) and FOX Action Movies are anticipated to go dark by 2024 across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) seeing as these were handled in Asia whose offering is being migrated to Disney+. 

As mentioned, most international territories (including MENA) are being handled by Disney EMEA who only supply children brands Disney Channel and Disney Junior alongside factual brands National Geographic and National Geographic Wild.

In Portugal, all the FOX channels are being folded under the Star brand by 2024 (i.e. FOX Life becomes Star Life). This includes consumers in Angola and Mozambique for which MultiChoice operates their service and also supply the affected brands like FOX, FOX Life and FOX Comedy.

Channel Shorts: Nick Jr. Global Expand To Latin America And Brazil, Star Channel Rolls Out In Netherlands And Flanders By November, And TNT Provides An Update On Their Status With StarSat

Nick Jr. Global expands to Latin America and Brazil

For several years, various cable providers had been streamlining and cutting back on content costs for their linear platforms in an attempt to boost their streaming endeavours. Nick Jr. alongside MTV seems to be having that ripple effect in parts of the world.

During the week, a viewer had noticed that Nick Jr. had started using the global feed in Latin America and Brazil. Although some level of localisation will still be seen on the brand particularly during ratings buds, advertisements, localised test on trailers, and local programming.

Star Channel to debut on various FOX brands in Europe

The Walt Disney Company has unveiled a new name and visual identity for the TV channel FOX is the Netherlands and Flanders.

As of November 1, it will operate as STAR Channel while at the same time remaining “the number one series channel and home to high-quality entertainment as we have come to expect from FOX”.

According to Walt Disney, STAR Channel’s mission is to continue broadcasting the best action, drama, horror and comedy series from leading studios, including favourites such as “Hudson & Rex”, “Below Deck” & “Chucky”. In addition, the channel will soon launch several new titles. It will kick off with the epic new horror series “FROM” (from the makers of LOST & The Game of Thrones), with more new series to follow later in the season, including “Robyn Hood” & “The Goodship Murder”.

Walt Disney also notes that content on STAR’s streaming platform on Disney+ and the linear channel STAR Channel will differ. Furthermore, STAR Channel will maintain its position in the channels’ electronic program guide (EPG).

StarSat is telling more lies to consumers

Last week, TNT went dark on StarTimes across Africa without prior notice to consumers as it was alleged that the reason for the exit had to with a change in broadcast rights. Warner Bros. Discovery had since then been investigating the matter with an update finally released.

According to Warner Bros. Discovery's PR, TNT was only removed due to ongoing negotiations with S

which seem to have hit a dead end. As StarSat is now looking to replace TNT with another channel and had removed and muted any mention of the channel across their platforms.

Basically, fans of Hollywood blockbusters and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) can continue to watch TNT Africa's programming on DStv (channel 137), GOtv (channel 16, channel 116 in Ghana and 316 in Uganda), Canal+ (channel 140 in Rwanda and 163 in Ethiopia) and C&W Seychelles (channel 207).

Reminder: Disney To Close Their Remaining Linear Channels Across Asia In The Coming Months, More Markets Likely To Follow

Disney is to close its six remaining linear TV

channels in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan

and Korea as the conglomerate puts a greater

emphasis on direct-to-consumer streaming.

The channels concerned are National Geographic,

National Geographic Wild, Star Chinese Movies,

Star Chinese Channel, Star Movies and Star World.

Linear services will end from September in

Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Korea, and by

December in Taiwan.

The group expects to retain a streamlined

television portfolio with channels in Japan, China,

Australia and New Zealand for the time being.

Consumers can continue to access content from

these channels on the conglomerate’s Disney+

and Disney+ Hotstar streaming platforms, which

are now fully rolled out within the Asia-Pacific

region, except China. The twin platforms carry

movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star

Wars, National Geographic and Star, Disney’s

general entertainment brand.

While the moves may help reduce costs and push

consumption onto its D2C businesses, sources

close to the group say that Disney still expects to

grow its media and entertainment businesses –

D2C, theatrical, consumer products and theme

parks – in the region.

The moves were foreshadowed by similar moves

in 2020 and 2021 . Disney closed its sports

channels in Taiwan in 2020. In September 2021, it

closed Fox, Fox Crime, Fox Life, FX, and Channel

V; movie channels Fox Action Movies, Fox Family

Movies, Fox Movies and Star Movies China; sports

channels Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports 3,

Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2; kids channel Disney

Channel and Disney Junior; factual services Nat

Geo People and SCM Legend. Many of those

channels had been brought into the Disney group

by the 2018 acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

In the five largest markets of Southeast Asia

proper (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore

and the Philippines) SVOD subscriptions reached

49 million at the end of the first quarter, according

to data from research house Media Partners Asia.

It estimated that, in terms of subscription

numbers, the leading platforms in the first quarter

were Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar with 9.4

million, Viu with 8.5 million, Netflix with 8.0

million and Prime Video at 1.3 million. (A

categorization by revenue might produce a

different ranking.)

Other recent reports have pointed to U.S.-

produced content accounting for only 20% of

video viewing time in the region, eclipsed by

Korea content at 30%. However, since the launch

of the streaming platform, Disney has become a

significant investor in locally-made Asian content.

Disney To Launch Single App In The Us With Disney+ & Hulu, Questions Lurking Over Star

During Disney’s quarterly results, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that in the United States, they will be launching a single app, which will incorporate Hulu content into Disney+.

Each app will still be available individually, and this might be a way around Disney getting ready to bring together Hulu and Disney+, until Disney sorts out its ownership of Hulu from Comcast.

Bob Iger stated that the one-app experience will offer a better service to its subscribers and increase advertising revenue.

“While we will continue to offer Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ as standalone options, this is a logical progression of our [direct-to-consumer] offerings that will provide greater opportunities for advertisers while giving bundle subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content, resulting in greater audience engagement and ultimately leading to a more unified streaming experience,”
This follows other moves being made by studios, like Comcast and Warner Brothers Discovery, who are consolidating their apps. Disney feels it can spend more money advertising its major movie and show releases by marketing a single app.

The single-app experience will launch in the United States by the end of the year. Disney’s tech teams have been working on migrating the Hulu legacy system into the Disney+ tech, since early last year, and the teams referred to the project as “Nu-Lu”.

Bob Iger has had conversations with Comcast about buying its stake in Hulu, which Disney can force to happen in 2024. In the last few months, Bob Iger has come to the conclusion that offering more general entertainment with Disney+ content is what they need to do.

“What we’re doing right now — because we own two-thirds of Hulu, and we have an agreement with Comcast that may result in us owning 100 percent — is we’re really studying the business very, very carefully, all those competitive dynamics with an understanding that we have a good platform in Hulu.

We have very strong original programming, actually highly awarded original programming, some delivered by FX, which is a great not only producer but brand, and we also have a good library, so it’s a solid platform. And it’s also a very attractive platform for advertisers. It’s already proven to be valuable for them and advertising is proven to be valuable for us. But the environment is very, very tricky right now and before we make any big decisions about our level of investment, our commitment to that business, we want to understand where it could go”.

Bob Iger has said that the addition of Star to Disney+ internationally has been very successful and they want to offer more general entertainment alongside Disney, to reduce churn, increase revenue and reduce costs.

For more Disney+ and Video Entertainment updates head over to Insidus Plus

Disney+ Loses Another 4 Million Subscribers

Today, the Walt Disney Company has released its latest quarterly results for the fiscal second quarter 2023, and that means we get an updated look at how many subscribers Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ have.

This gives us a clear indication of how the apps are doing, especially with growth or decline in subscriber numbers. These subscriber numbers are based up to April 1st 2023.

Disney+ now has 157.8 million subscribers globally, down over 4 million subscribers from 161.8 million subscribers last quarter. All of these losses have come from subscribers leaving Disney+ Hotstar in India, following the loss of the cricket and, most recently, HBO content. In the US and Canada, they lost 300,000 subscribers, likely due to the recent price rise, less content and political issues. However, Disney+ subscribers in other areas, including Latin America, Europe and Asia, increased by 900,000.

While Hulu has added around 200,000 subscribers, ESPN+ has also added 400,000 subscribers in the US.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement:

“We’re pleased with our accomplishments this quarter, including the improved financial performance of our streaming business, which reflect the strategic changes we’ve been making throughout the company to realign Disney for sustained growth and success. From movies to television, to sports, news, and our theme parks, we continue to deliver for consumers, while establishing a more efficient, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our operations.”

More importantly, Disney’s streaming businesses have been able to increase its revenue by 12% to $5.5 billion and decrease its operating lost by half a billion dollars, which mainly came from better Disney+ and ESPN+ results, partially offset by lower operating income at Hulu.

The improvement at Disney+ was due to higher subscription revenue and a decrease in marketing costs, partially offset by higher programming and production costs and, to a lesser extent, increased technology costs. Higher subscription revenue was attributable to subscriber growth and increases in retail pricing, partially offset by an unfavorable foreign exchange impact. The increase in programming and production costs was due to more content provided on the service. Improved results at ESPN+ were attributable to growth in subscription revenue due to an increase in retail pricing and subscriber growth.

The decrease in operating income at Hulu was due to higher programming and production costs and lower advertising revenue, partially offset by subscription revenue growth and, to a lesser extent, lower marketing costs. The increase in programming and production costs was attributable to more content provided on the service and an increase in subscriber-based fees for programming the Live TV service, partially offset by a lower average cost mix of SVOD content. Higher subscriber-based fees for programming the Live TV service were due to rate increases and more subscribers. The decrease in advertising revenue resulted from lower impressions, partially offset by higher rates. Subscription revenue growth was due to increases in retail pricing and subscribers.

Disney has also provided a detailed breakdown per region: (Million)

Disney+ – Global – 157.8

Disney+ – Domestic (US & Canada) – 46.3

Disney+ – International excluding Disney+ Hotstar+ – 58.6

Disney+ Core – (excluding Hotstar) – 104.9

Disney+ Hotstar – 52.9

ESPN+ – Million Subscribers (US Only) – 25.3

Hulu – Million Subscribers (US Only) – 48.2

To compare, here are the subscription numbers (Millions) from November’s Investor Call:

Disney+ – Global – 161.8

Disney+ – Domestic (US & Canada) – 46.6

Disney+ – International excluding Disney+ Hotstar+ – 57.7

Disney+ Core – (excluding Hotstar) – 104.3

Disney+ Hotstar – 57.5

ESPN+ – Million Subscribers (US Only) – 24.9

Hulu – Million Subscribers (US Only) – 48.0

How Will Disney+ Adding Hulu Content Work?

It’s finally happening. Disney CEO Bob Iger has announced plans to bring together its streaming services in the United States under one app, bringing Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ content all together to offer subscribers a better experience but it also comes with many business benefits.

The details of how all of this will work are still very much unknown. Bob Iger was very vague about how Hulu content would be added within Disney+, but there are some key things we know.

• It will be happening by the end of 2023

• Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu will still be offered as separate services

• Hulu content will be available within Disney+

• More advertising is going to be offered

• Price rises for Disney+

However, we still know very little about how all of this will work out because the Hulu situation is very complicated. First off, Comcast still owns 33% of Hulu and due to a contract that was put into place when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, which means Disney or Comcast can force Disney to buy out the 33% stake, for a minimum of around $9 billion. Bob Iger has said he has had meetings with Comcast over Hulu, but ultimately, the deal hasn’t been finalised, which is why the information has been so vague.

Disney is being open about its plans to consolidate its streaming services, similar to how HBO Max and Discovery+ will merge and how Paramount+ and Showtime have recently done. It’s setting the tone for the future, which Disney knows will be all about the streaming business as the linear business is declining yearly.

There are many reasons why the merger of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ will make sense. It will drastically reduce costs for the company. They can make less content and stretch it out easier, because when you look at all of the content being created across Disney’s studios, they release lots of shows and films. Publicity costs can be reduced, since they will be only promoting one app. Bob Iger even mentioned in the quarterly conference call that they’ve been releasing so much content on their streaming platforms, they’ve not been advertising them properly to get the most out of their investment. That’s in addition to savings that can be made on just running one platform, reduced overheads etc.

The merging of the platforms also will help reduce churn, as subscribers of the Disney Streaming Bundle have been generally less likely to unsubscribe, since there is usually something someone wants to watch on one of the three platforms.

ESPN+ is already available within the Hulu app, so Disney has already begun getting subscribers used to them being together. However, adding ESPN+ into Disney+ should hopefully be something that can happen easier, since they are built on the same tech. Disney has also already added ESPN content onto Disney+, but with the high costs of sports, it’s likely this will remain a premium add-on or as part of a bundle.

Internationally, Disney+ has had lots of success with the addition of the Star brand, which offers the majority of Hulu Originals and other general entertainment from Disney’s studios like 20th, FX and ABC. Bob Iger has said that it’s been a huge success and one of the reasons why they want to merge the platforms.

Unfortunately, with the Hulu contract, Disney has never been to share its plans for the future properly, but now with just over six months until 2024, it is starting to let subscribers know what’s going on. It makes the recent decisions for Disney+ to make more sense, such as moving to the next-day programming for Disney Channel and National Geographic content. Or why more Disney+ Originals have been added to Hulu and why “A Small Light” and the next Searchlight Pictures film, “Flamin’ Hot”, are being released on both Hulu and Disney+ simultaneously. Slowly blending together the two platforms.

Disney’s CFO Christine M. McCarthy also revealed during the quarterly results that they are going to be taking an impairment charge of approximately $1.5 to $1.8 billion, due to them planning to remove content from their streaming platforms. Disney+ in the United States generally probably doesn’t have a huge amount of content to remove, but Hulu has thousands of titles, many of which aren’t owned by them, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if we see lots of content removed from Hulu in the coming months, ahead of the merger.

There will no doubt be many more questions about how all of this is going to work in the coming months ahead. We know that Disney has been working on incorporating Hulu’s legacy system into the Disney+ tech since last year. Plus, the Disney Streaming Bundle accounts already use a single login, so that’s something that will hopefully make this smoother, but it’s bound to be a bit bumpy.

There are so many questions that we know nothing about such as:

• How much is the combined app going to cost?

• When will it happen?

• Will Hulu + Live TV continue?

• Will the Hulu brand continue?

• Will ESPN+ be a paid add-on?

• What will happen to other add-ons like HBO within Hulu?

• What will happen with the Star brand internationally?

Ultimately, the direction for a combined streaming platform for Disney makes sense. Offering multiple outlets is more expensive, and one platform will offer more content to more people. It’s already proven to work, but there are lots of hurdles, including Disney paying Comcast a huge cheque for billions of dollars. But now we know there is a plan to combine Disney’s streaming services under a single offering.

Eventually, a single app for all of Disney’s content is going to make it much easier for both subscribers and Disney, but it will also likely lead to less overall content being available, as Disney is looking to scale back its general entertainment side, but pairing it with Disney+, which has been lacking general entertainment, means the combination will result in us getting regular content constantly.

How The Walt Disney Company Ruined And Killed Off Star On Disney+?

Star is a content hub within the Disney+ streaming service that is responsible for handling series like American Dad, How I Met Your Mother, Helstorm, Scream Queens, Little Fireflies Everywhere alongside movies like Deadpool, Little Monsters and Vacation Friends.

Before that, the Star brand name was and is currently used in India for original programs and movies which come with linear channels that can be viewed in countries outside the region.

Due to criticism by several consumers regarding the lack of adult entertainment on the platform I mean several shows like Modern Family and Glee weren't present at the time despite fitting the description of Disney+ which was rated family at the time.

 

Star is a brand that catered to consumers aged 18-49 while some regions had to pay extra to view the bulk of entertainment on a seperate service (Hulu or Star+) others were able to view it under a tile on Disney+.

For several months into 2021, as Star began to rollout onto Disney+ in other countries came the attention span The Walt Disney Company had toward the brand. You'd find several adverts for the content under this brand labelled as Disney+ while others were labelled under another property.

From my observation, Star hardly had original content except for where it was deemed relevant which is India and even then most of the content would compliment other tiles on Disney+ and not go for the edgy stuff that would seem less Disney.

 

Worst part in regard to all of this is how some parts of Europe had to phase out the Star brand in favour of Utsav which is based on irrelevant channel only for India to go head with Star as the main company rebranded to Disney Star hopefully there's no mix-up when referring to streamer Disney+ Star.

Last year, it was reported that they'd be exiting the English market in India and likely global which appears to be on some limbo as the reported new channels had been delayed or scrapped but we'll see what happens when those delays eventually hit the surface.

The Walt Disney Company was always about alignment as several Disney channels were sacrificed for Disney+ and ESPN but these inconsistencies just prove that any brand can be mismanaged whether its fresh like Magnolia or old as TCM.

Roundups #56: Rick And The Morty Is Getting An Anime, Kendrick Lamar Shooting Documentary In Ghana And The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Reboot Is In Development

Rick And Morty spinoff announced

Adult Swim has ordered an anime project from director Takashi Sano (Tower of God) that’s based on the Emmy-winning series. The network has placed an order for 10 episodes of Rick and Morty: The Anime.

Sano previously directed two acclaimed anime shorts in the Rick and Morty universe: “Rick and Morty vs. Genocider” and “Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil).” The shorts have generated more than 10 million combined views on Adult Swim digital platforms.

 

“The multiverse-straddling exploits of Rick and the gang pose challenges to the family bond, but they always rise to the occasion,” Sano said in a statement. “It’s such a life-affirming sight, and Jerry is no exception.” He adds, “I am honored to have been given an opportunity to tell a new story about this amazing family. I hope you enjoy their adventures!”

 

Kendrick Lamar documentary in the works

Kendrick Lamar has taken the campaign for his new album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, abroad, as the rapper was recently spotted in Accra, Ghana, where he is reportedly filming a documentary.

While the doc has yet to be confirmed by Lamar or his team, various media outlets in Ghana announced the news upon his arrival in the West African country, which occurred last week, prior to Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers‘ release. Images and clips of the Compton, Calif. native at various locations in Ghana began surfacing on social media as early as last Thursday (May 12), when the “Crown” rapper visited Kozo Restaurant that same day. Over the weekend, he was seen at Freedom Skate Park and was also captured playing soccer with children in Jamestown.

 

On Saturday evening (May 14), the rapper hosted a listening party, which was attended by numerous local Ghanaian artists, including Black Sherif, Stonebwoy, Amaarae, and Smallgod. In addition, Lamar and Spotify also partnered with local Ghanaian transportation companies, which plastered song titles from Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers on multiple tro-tro vehicles (privately-owned minivans and minibusses used for public transportation) within the area.

More reboots

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a fantasy pic released by 20th Century Fox in 2003, based on the comic book series of the same name from writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O’Neill. Set in an alternate Victorian Age world, it followed a group of famous contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and adventure characters—including Captain Nemo, Dorian Gray and Tom Sawyer—as they teamed up on a secret mission.

 

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman comics were first introduced in 1999. Stephen Norrington directed the original film adaptation, starring Sean Connery, which was reputed to be the reason he retired from acting—so miserable was his experience on set. James Dale Robinson wrote the script, with Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend, Shane West, Jason Flemyng and Richard Roxburgh rounding out the cast.

While multiple attempts at a League reboot have been made in the past, with one conceived as a female-centric take, they’ve thus far been to no avail. BAFTA Award nominee Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road) will adapt the script this time around. Susan Montford and 3 Arts Entertainment’s Erwin Stoff will produce alongside Don Murphy, who also produced the original.

Disney Will Cease Broadcast Of Disney XD, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Kids, FX Movies And Star Life In Latin America With Disney Junior In Brazil

With the arrival of Disney+, the mouse company was highly motivated in the last couple of years to exterminate its existing pay television channels around the world in order to benefit its subscription streaming platform.

With the announcement given in mid-2021 by the CEO of the company Bob Chapek in which 100 international casualties were promised, it was a matter of time for this mass murder to affect Latin America and it seems that Disney will finally play its cards in the region.

Initially, the company did not make major changes in the television field than to change the name of the Fox channels, replacing it with the Star brand for legal reasons, drastically modify the content broadcast on its main children's channels (to enhance the one that is already on demand on Disney+), and reducing the signals available in the territory (the so-called 'feeds'), in addition to a notable lack of interest in their maintenance and promotion.

These last three events were enough evidence to begin to think that Disney was already planning the worst for many of these channels that suffered these dreaded consequences, especially since, certainly, they became useless signals by having taken a good portion of their programming for to make it exclusive to Disney+, and what was left on broadcast was already distributed on said platform.

It should also be remembered that, in August 2021, Disney launched the Star+ service, in an attempt to earn more money with two different platforms, significantly affecting the channels of a more mature audience, such as the Star Channel itself, than during Its advertising strategy promised to maintain the same programming as always, but only half a year later it aggressively reduced the daily broadcasts of The Simpsons, its star series, among other changes that made the star's service not to the liking of consumers.

This also hurt Star Premium channels (i.e.,  Star Hits, Star Series, Star Action, Star Comedy, Star Fun, Star Cinema, and Star Classics ), whose programming became repetitive and not at all innovative as for a premium television package., a market quite obsolete today but that HBO manages to keep current with premieres and original productions, which ended up digging Star Premium's own grave after so many years on the air.

And that is how it can be confirmed that the company will also end Disney XD, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Kids, FX Movies and Star Life in Latin America and Disney Junior in Brazil at the moment. All these channels, whose course could already be foreseen for months, will be discontinued as of March 31 2022, thus adding to the aforementioned signals belonging to the Star Premium group, which will say goodbye at the end of this month : January 31st.

In the case of Disney XD, its end in Latin America was something that viewers were rumored for 2 years, after the announcement of the channel ceasing its broadcasts in India to be replaced by a Marvel-themed signal (the famous ' Marvel HQ ' , which in any case was already discontinued on December 1 with almost 2 years on the air), added to several international versions of the channel that said goodbye during this time without having any kind of substitute.

This information initially came from a letter from Disney sent to a cable operator last Wednesday, December 22, but which came to light on the morning of this Monday, January 10, in a portal post, remaining as a rumor until hours later. it was finally confirmed and it is already a true fact. All the channels already officially named have their days numbered.

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Hotstar Could Be Added To Disney+ Star And Hulu Globally

When the Walt Disney Company purchased 20th Century Fox, one of the key assets was access to the Indian streaming service “Hotstar”, which was rebranded to Disney+ Hotstar early last year.

Subscribers to Disney+ Hotstar make up over a third of the total number of subscribers to Disney+ globally.

Earlier today, Disney announced some changes to its Disney+ Hotstar service, merging together the VIP and Premium content, while offering three price tiers, depending on if the subscriber is only watching on a mobile device or on multiple devices like 4K TVs.

Disney+ Hotstar has a wide selection of original content, which is currently only available in India, but that is likely to change in the future, with some of the best original content available on Hulu in the United States or on Star On Disney+ internationally.

During an interview with Variety, Sunil Rayan, president and head of Disney Plus Hotstar, has confirmed.

“It is an objective for us that we want creators out of India to have a global platform. Because if we feel like we can provide a global platform, more creators will actually come to us and we want to see more Indian creators be accessible throughout the globe,” Some of the Hotstar Specials are already available on Hotstar in other countries such as the US, Canada and the UK. Netflix has had lots of success in releasing Indian content globally, and releasing Disney+ Hotstar originals on a bigger platform, would make these shows accessible to more viewers.

Disney is now making original content for Disney+ in a number of different countries around the world, including in Latin America, South Korea and across Europe, so it makes sense to use their main streaming platforms to distribute content globally. Especially considering Amazon and Netflix have also been heavily investing in making original Indian content for their streaming services, it would make sense for Disney to follow suit.

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