Disney Headlines for July 28th, 2022
What type of content should fans expect on Disney+? And what are Disney’s long-term plans for the service?


Photo:cnet.com
These topics dominate the latest batch of Disney Headlines…but we’ll also sneak in a Reedy Creek update!
R-Rated Content Debuts on Disney+


Photo Credit: Disney+
I’m not joking when I say that I’ve been waiting to have this discussion for three years now.
As Disney+ approached its launch in 2019, mixed signals abounded about the type of content the service would offer.


Image: The Wall Street Journal
Disney had recently finalized its acquisition of Fox’s content library, supercharging its streaming service with options.
However, some of Fox’s most identifiable properties were decidedly un-Disney.
R-rated Marvel movies like Logan and Deadpool created an awkward situation.


Photo: Marvel
Yes, the titles were Marvel…but not the kind of content one would expect on a Disney streaming service.
Other franchises from the Fox library such as Kingsman, Alien, and Predator didn’t appear to have a home unless Disney+ altered its approach.


Source: ABC
You may not know/remember this, but Disney has released R-rated titles under the Touchstone Pictures arm in the past.
A long-forgotten Benedict Cumberbatch movie called The Fifth Estate was their last outing.


Photo: Disney
Since many of Disney’s R-rated titles underachieved at the box office, strategists believed the company could sidestep its adult content concerns.
Many people, including me, expected Disney to add these titles to Hulu+, along with much of the prime-time content from the FX Network.


Photo: Hulu
Disney initially settled on this course of action for two reasons. One involved increasing subscriber numbers for Hulu+ and thereby getting two paychecks.
The company figured early curiosity would drive Disney+ subscriptions, but those were loss leaders.


Photo: Walt Disney Company
As a more mature business, Hulu+ could earn additional revenue to offset those losses. And that plan worked well at first.
Hulu+ claimed 28.5 million subscribers when Disney+ debuted. However, thanks to the new Fox content and other moves, Hulu+ has since expanded to 45.6 million.


Photo: Getty
We’re discussing 63 percent growth in less than three calendar years!
Disney+ Matters More than Hulu+
Here’s the headline that isn’t garnering enough attention. But, like me, Rich Duprey at The Motley Fool has recognized Disney’s endgame here.
The company currently offers three different streaming services. This three-pronged strategy has proven successful thus far…but it’s not permanent!
Disney’s goal involves pushing consumers toward the so-called Disney Bundle.


Photo: ESPN+
I discussed the latest move last week. It involved the recent ESPN+ price increase from $6.99 to $9.99. Notably, the Disney Bundle’s price didn’t go up as well.
Disney WANTS people to use that bundle. It’s the future home for all Disney content, including live sports and, yes, R-rated fare!


Photo: ESPN
You may not recall this, but Disney+ offered a three-year subscription bundle before its launch in November 2019.
Millions of current subscriptions will expire in less than four months, including mine and possibly yours!


Photo: simplemost.com
In a perfect world, Disney wants those customers to transition to the Disney Bundle. Later, Disney will collapse that entity by changing it to Disney+.
In the process, Disney will presumably catch and pass Netflix to become the top streaming service in the world.


Photo: Netflix
Getting to that point comes with some hurdles, though. Disney currently faces one, as Disney+ just added much of the Fox-created Marvel content.
Yes, that includes Logan, Deadpool, and Deadpool 2. Do you…think of Deadpool as a Disney-like title? I sure don’t.


Photo:Source: Ivan Marc / Shutterstock.com
Neither does The Parents Television and Media Council (PTC). Instead, they point to the way Disney danced around the topic of R-rated content in 2019.
Disney previously indicated that we should expect PG-13 and TV14 programming on Disney+. Anything more adult would go to Netflix.


Photo: Disney+
Disney+ Changes Its Policies
Various Disney spokespeople indicated as much, but a lot has happened during the past three years. When we talk 2019, we’re discussing an entire pandemic ago.


Source: comicbook.com
Most importantly, Disney now believes it can catch Netflix quickly, something that hadn’t appeared plausible then.
The cost of this newfound aggressive policy is angering the PTC. This group previously derided Disney for allowing TV-MA content to “destroy your brand.”


Photo: Netflix
That statement applied to Marvel series like Daredevil and The Punisher. So, you can imagine how upset the organization is about, you know, Deadpool.
Here’s part of a statement from March:
“It seems wildly ‘off-brand’ for Disney+ to add TV-MA and R-rated programming to this platform, ostensibly to increase subscription revenue.”


Photo:whatsondisneyplus.com
This past week, the PTC earned headlines for a more aggressive statement:
“Three years ago, the Walt Disney Company made a promise to families: No R-rated movies on Disney+, they said.
It’s a family-focused platform, they said. We have Hulu for our edgier adult fare, they said. It turns out they were lying to us.


Photo: Newsweek
After decades of corporate brilliance establishing itself as the world’s most trusted brand for families, today’s C-level suite at Disney has decided to flush it all down the toilet.”
For its part, Disney points out the availability of parental controls, a standard feature for streaming services today.
You can read a guide on how to set your Disney+ parental controls here. And Disney posted a YouTube video, too:
So, Disney has obviously thought of everything here. But unfortunately, it has still angered the same groups that are usually mad at Disney lately.
A Reedy Creek Update
Some of the most vital Disney stories rarely make the headlines these days, which speaks volumes about our clickbait society.
However, one deserves amplification. Here’s an updated Bloomberg story about the Reedy Creek Improvement District.


Photo Credit: https://www.worldofwalt.com/disney-private-government-disneys-reedy-creek-improvement-district.html
Ben Watkins III earned the title of Director of the Florida Division of Bond Finance in 1995. In other words, he’s been doing this for a while.
For over a quarter-century, Watkins has ensured that Florida pays all his creditors. He’s the government official who keeps the trains running on time.
Watkins has held this role so long that he’s been in charge for more than half the time the division has existed. Florida introduced it in 1969.


(Photo by Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images)
So, he is THE person who knows about what’s going on with the state government. And he recently explained what we should expect with Reedy Creek.
Watkins believes that Florida’s government will create a successor district nearly identical to the existing one.


Photo:leg.state.fl.us
A few differences will occur, presumably taking away Disney’s ability to build a nuclear plant and other stuff that would never happen.
Obviously, Watkins cares the most about the debt since that’s his job. He said this:
“The debt will be transferred and assumed by — with the same terms and conditions — the successor entity.”
In other words, the new district will work similarly to the old one, and the debts will switch from one to the other.
Watkins then added the following comments that appear to settle the matter:


Photo:gfoa.org
“We understand what non-impairment is; we are not going to do anything that adversely affects the credit…
Our reputation in the credit market is extremely important to us. We don’t want to jeopardize that.”
Independent of what politicians may say, Reedy Creek isn’t changing in any significant manner.
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Feature Image: Disney