Disney And Stan Are Teaming Up In Australia, Reports Suggest


As we predicted last week, Disney looks to be teaming up with Aussie streaming service Stan to offer a Disney+ bundle similar to its Hulu/ESPN+ offer in the US. Here’s what we know.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/08/disney-plus-streaming-coming-to-australia/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/08/Star-War-410×231.jpg” title=”How Disney+ Could Shake Up Streaming In Australia” excerpt=”Disney’s upcoming streaming service, Disney+, is set to be a huge game changer – how could it not be? We’re talking about the world’s largest entertainment conglomerate entering the increasingly crowded foray of streaming. For existing subscribers, the smart solution is to bundle packages together. Here’s how that could work in Australia.”]

According to a report from the Australian Financial Review, Disney and Nine are currently in talks about a future partnership – and it might have something to do with Disney and Hulu’s expansion into Australia (the latter being owned by Disney). It’s unclear whether any deals have been made but things look encouraging.

Hulu content, like Catch-22 and PEN15, is mostly available on Stan within Australia. There are exceptions however: examples include The Act (currently available on Foxtel) and The Handmaid’s Tale (which SBS On Demand owns the first-run rights to and is later streamed on Stan.)

Disney is looking likely to release Disney+ in the first half of 2020 and it’s left consumers wondering what might happen to content available on local streaming services when the entertainment giant begins to gather back its movies and shows.

Stan seems to make the most sense for Disney in Australia’s streamingscape. It’s not a global competitor like Netflix or Amazon’s Prime, and it already hosts a lot of Disney’s content after the two struck a deal late last year.

Lifehacker Australia reached out to Foxtel to confirm what might happen to Disney content on its platform.

“Foxtel has a very good, long-standing relationship with Disney that has served Disney, Foxtel and our customers well,” a Foxtel spokesperson told us in an email. “As with all of our partners, we remain in constant discussion with them regarding their content.”

Disney Australia also confirmed there’s still no release date for Disney+’s launch but suggested it could move quickly.

“The platform has been built to be global, which gives us the ability to examine opportunities and move fast, if/when/where it makes sense in the future,” a Disney spokesperson told us over email.

It’s likely Disney will announce any news regarding partnerships, bundles and release dates closer to the release date so don’t expect confirmation any time soon. But the tailwinds point towards Stan.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/05/disney-will-make-netflix-into-a-bit-player/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/02/Captain-Marvel-410×231.jpg” title=”Disney Will Turn Netflix Into A Bit Player” excerpt=”The emergence of several new streaming services is bad news for Netflix, Stan and other incumbent streaming platforms. And as traditional TV networks slowly get their ducks in a row, we might be at the beginning of the end of having one streaming powerhouse that delivers most of what we want.”]

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