Disney CEO says Disney+ will likely be available on Apple TV, despite competing offerings
Mickey Mouse and Tim Cook can co-exist in the streaming service wars, at least according to Disney’s CEO Bob Iger.
Despite the fact that the companies will soon pit two different video-streaming services against each other, Disney is nonetheless committed to distributing an app for its upcoming Disney+ service on Apple’s set top box, Apple TV.
“In all likelihood [Disney+ will] be available through traditional app distributors, Apple being one of them,” said Iger in an interview with Bloomberg.
Disney has already announced partnerships with Roku and Playstation enabling users to subscriber to the Disney+ streaming service on its devices.
His comment surprised many given the mucky history of streaming business competition. One of the most notable examples in recent memory is the streaming feud between Apple and Amazon. For years, Amazon Prime Video was one of the only major subscription-streaming service to not have a dedicated app on Apple TV. The e-commerce giant also stopped selling Apple’s set-top box on its website for a time. In late 2017, Amazon finally released a Prime Video app on Apple TV.
Iger, who also sits on Apple’s board, also told Bloomberg that he had no plans to step down from the board. The Disney CEO shared that he has been “careful to recuse himself at Apple board meetings whenever the topic came up.”
On Thursday, Disney officially announced the details for its Disney+ streaming service. It has an official launch date (November 12) and an official price point ($6.99 a month or $69.99 for a year). Disney also announced a slew of content from its classic film library as well as new movies and TV shows based on beloved Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney animated franchises.
Apple, on the other hand, has yet to announce a price, release date, or anything other than completely new, never-before-seen shows and movies for its streaming service, Apple TV+.
Between Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Now, and a myriad of other options, the video streaming market is packed with options for consumers. Movie watchers and TV show bingers can’t watch it all at once, so there’s certainly plenty of competition between the streaming companies. With Disney’s setting a more affordable price point for a service packed with already proven popular content, Disney+ is already looking like a top tier choice -- and, especially if you’re a brand new streaming service, hard to beat.
