Disney brings back channel surfing for streaming

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The Future. Taking a cue from the rise of FAST channels, Disney+ will soon add programmed genre and franchise-specific channels to its app, helping with both discoverability and engagement on the platform — the keys to profitability. Expect other streamers to follow suit as users complain that they spend too much time just trying to find something to watch amid a sea of titles.

Disney Channel 2.0
Can’t decide what to watch on Disney+? Soon, you can just flip to the Marvel or Pixar channel.

  • Disney announced that it would offer several channels (the old-school, pop in wherever the show or movie is at kind) of its content right on Disney+ (similar to the channels it has on the ABC app), although no rollout date has been set.
  • The move is meant to get users to spend more time on Disney+, instead of navigating out of the app in search of something else to watch.
  • It also adds a premium “always on” feature for advertisers, allowing brands to passively reach paying subscribers.

The channels are part of Disney+’s overhaul of the platform from a more kid-friendly streamer into a general entertainment one. Disney+ finished integrating Hulu into the platform, and it plans to do the same for ESPN’s upcoming app.

The pitch: once you’re in Disney+, you won’t want to go anywhere else.

David Vendrell

Born and raised a stone’s-throw away from the Everglades, David left the Florida swamp for the California desert. Over-caffeinated, he stares at his computer too long either writing the TFP newsletter or screenplays. He is repped by Anonymous Content.

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