Boardwalk Times: Stories from the Seashore — Disney+ Needs Live Channels
Disney+ has massive potential, and the addition of live channels could help the streamer in so many ways.
Welcome back to Boardwalk Times: Stories from the Seashore!
In this issue, we will be covering:
Disney+ Should Add Live Channels 📺
Disney Q3 Paints A Rocky Road 😬📉
Destination D23 Quick Predictions 💭
Podcast Plugs 🎙
Links of the Month 📰
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Disney+’s LIVE Opportunity
Disney+ needs live channels.
It is a feature that is desperately needed, and it could add some upside to the service. Disney+ incorporating 24/7 live channels would keep so many more subscribers on the service. These live channels could easily fit within Disney+’s UI/UX.
The other aspect is that it would be pretty easy to come up with live channels.
Imagine taking your brand tiles and making live channels. Boom you got five channels.
Disney (entire brand)
Pixar
Marvel
Star Wars
Nat Geo
But let’s get even more specific and come up with channels that could appeal to every type of Disney+ subscriber!
Avatar
Critically Acclaimed
Disney100
Indiana Jones
Inspired by Books
Short Films
Disney Channel
Disney Channel Original Movies
Disney Junior
Disney Parks
Disneynature
Frozen
High School Musical
Mickey Mouse and Friends
The Muppets
Phineas and Ferb
Pirates of the Caribbean
Disney Princess
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Winnie the Pooh
Disney XD
Cars
Pixar Shorts
Toy Story
Marvel Animation
Avengers
Guardians of the Galaxy
Spider-Man
Infinity Saga
X-Men
The Skywalker Saga
Vintage Star Wars
The Simpsons
Musicals
Documentary
Boom that’s 40 channels!
All of those come from the already-curated Disney+ collections.
So there’s already enough content in those collections to have programming blocks on a loop, running 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Obviously, we could get even nerdier and more specific with your channels like doing a channel for Star Wars Animation, ABC, 20th Century, or holiday-themed channels during certain holiday seasons. Disney truly has unlimited potential when it comes to creating these live channels.
Now some of you may be wondering… “Zach, WHY should they do this?”
Engagement.
When there is nothing appealing to you, it’s easy to just throw something on. Or in some cases, it’s easy to just watch whatever is already playing on TV. For me, it’s Marvel/Star Wars films on Freeform/TNT/FX. Imagine if that option was now available on Disney+! I’d be on that service way more. I’d even use the service as background noise while working on this newsletter.
It would be fun to just click on the Disney Parks channel and they are playing The Imagineering Story, or if the Star Wars channel is doing a Star Wars: Rebels marathon, or just watching Captain America: Civil War on the Marvel channel. It would be endless possibilities but it would help with engagement and discovery.
Back in 2022, I had this to say regarding Disney+ adding live channels:
Just imagine the actual Disney Channel on Disney+ airing DCOMs and other Disney Channel classic shows. A live National Geographic channel filled to the brim of all their programming from wildlife to space. A channel dedicated to Marvel that could feature the ever-expanding MCU and other Marvel content. A channel that airs Pixar films, shorts, and additional programming. A channel that just plays classic Disney films, think like Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Darby O’Gill and the Little People. A channel dedicated to just the Disney Parks! What about a channel that plays just The Muppets? Hey, let’s throw in a channel that plays just the Walt Disney anthology series as well.
Disney+ live channels could be a good discovery tool for subscribers to find new series/films. Let’s be real, these streaming services have so much. Some content gets lost in the shuffle. Whether it’s a classic title or a brand-new original, things get lost in the streaming universe. Live channels could provide another avenue for discovery.
Live channels would be easy to incorporate with the ad-supported tier, and for the premium tier you can just have “Disney Channel ads” which are all just corporate synergy ads for Disney’s films, products, and parks. Win-win? I think there should be zero hesitation when it comes to incorporating this.
The live channels would also be helpful when more live programming starts to hit Disney+. Especially if Disney ever decides to integrate ESPN and ABC into the service then having live channels will become essential. Remember everything old eventually becomes new again. Plus, I’m sure some Disney+ subscribers wouldn’t mind watching Monday Night Football and The Bachelor live on the service.
Disney+ is cutting back on content, so maybe it can make up for it by showcasing the content it already has in innovative ways. Disney is a company known for its experiences.
Why not make your streaming service one too?
More on that in a future newsletter.
Have a topic you want me to cover? Drop me a line at boardwalktimes@yahoo.com!
Disney Q3 Paints A Rocky Road
Disney’s three drivers of growth will be film studios, streaming, and the parks. Yet all three of those drivers of growth have faced challenges in recent months. Disney has had some theatrical misfires due to timing, marketing, and the content it was putting out. Streaming continues to be a difficult and expensive business. The parks are actually on good footing but with a lack of investment, that division could potentially hit a major slump especially as it faces heavy competition from Universal.
This also comes at a time when rumors of Disney CEO Bob Iger giving up and selling Disney run rampant. On top of the “Disney Sale” rumors, we have an ongoing WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike. The longer this strike continues, the worse things will get for Disney. Despite this rocky road ahead, Disney can overcome this but it will take time. Still, the media is going to run with “Apple buying Disney” headlines and yes we plan on covering that story in a future newsletter.
This is a good piece on Disney potentially doing the unthinkable when it comes to selling to Apple.
Destination D23 Quick Predictions
The Florida-based D23 event tends to focus more on the Disney Parks. Remember Destination D23 isn’t D23 Expo.
Josh D’Amaro does some Blue Sky dreaming: I’m not getting my hopes up! I could totally see D’Amaro & Co. using this event to share more Blue Sky ideas without committing to a particular project or idea.
D23 President Michael Vargo reveals upcoming events: Easy one. I think Vargo will announce details for D23 Expo 2024 and more D23 fan events for the end of 2023 and throughout 2024.
Disney Treasure details along with teases for the seventh Disney Cruise Line ship and the acquisition ship: This is another easy one as well. I could see this event being the place where they shed light on some of these projects. It also helps that Disney Cruise Line is DOMINATING.
The final stages of the EPCOT transformation are revealed: I mean why not?
The Walt Disney Studios Showcase lacks new info due to strikes: This feels like a gimme. I don’t know how they will do a Studio Showcase at a Disney Parks event. But hey I can’t wait to see them try!
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Podcast Plugs 🎙
This is the Waycast is back with Ahsoka. Follow along with Sara and Gio as they analyze and discuss this highly-anticipated show. Subscribe to the feed. (Spotify) (Apple)
I had an excellent chat with Brian Krosnick of Park Lore! We discuss his theme park writing origins, why he created Park Lore, armchair Imagineering, Disney making original attractions again, modern-day Imagineering, and the best untapped intellectual properties left for theme parks. (Spotify) (Apple)
LINKS OF THE MONTH
— ESPN makes a betting deal with Penn: I have a hard time believing this will actually work. Barstool Sports at least has a passionate fan base and a defined targeted audience, and this deal didn’t work for them. ESPN is larger but lacks a defined targeted audience, ESPN hasn’t been cool in a minute and has struggled. (Vox)
— The Cheetah Girls at 20: how the girl group changed Disney Channel. (Alternative Press)
— A fantastic behind-the-scenes look at the 2006-2008 Disney Channel Games. I’ve gone on the record a few times but the 2006-2008 era was Disney Channel’s highest point. [Maybe my own nostalgia plays into that?] (Insider)
— Andor: Inside the Making of a Perfect Star Wars Episode (Vanity Fair)
— Remembering Disney historian Jim Korkis. (The Walt Disney Family Museum)
— Disney Is Slipping, Universal Rises, and Other Surprising Findings From Theme Park Attendance in 2022… (Park Lore)
— A look at some never-built concepts for Disney’s California Adventure. (Cabel)
— How the Universal Studios tram tour defined the modern theme park. (Los Angeles Times)
— High School Musical: The Musical: The Series concluded its final season this month. (My review) (My colleague Muska’s review)
— Fans and former Imagineers are bringing defunct Disney attractions back to life. Boardwalk Times columnist Kelly McCubbin breaks it all down. (Boardwalk Times)
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I like the multiple live channel idea. Having blocks of movies or shows on a specific day or time. ION and some of the other channels on cable have block of shows in sequence. NCIS, Chicago Fire/PD/Hospital, Hawaii Five O, Leverage, Bones, etc. Based on your tastes, and your 'favorites' you could binge watch part of a day if you wanted to and not get tired of that show. BBC has Star Trek: TNG on a 3 or 4 episode most days, Home Improvement is in a twice a day, four episodes each block on another channel. For TV shows with more than 100 episodes, this would keep their fans watching.
TCM will have themes for their movies too. A particular actor or director, will be the point of an entire day of different movies, many that aren't in wide circulation. With the Disney Library (from in house and what's been purchased) there are lots of films and shows that could be used in this manner. they have years and years of children's shows too that could also be a channel ( I think it still lives on Cable). These would also be places to show behind the scenes or made for stories like we used to have on Wonderful World of Color. We caught a series about the animal kingdom veterinary team that was interesting, but only saw a few episodes of it. (it might have been on animal planet), but all of those 'real life adventures' we watched would fill up a couple of days of watching. I would think that these would be substantially less expensive than these blockbuster movies and allow the company to 'discover' new talent. Who wouldn't want to watch "A day in the life of a Cast Member"? with 11 parks and thousands of Cast Members, many that have personalities, it might be interesting to follow them around and share what they do on a daily basis and some of the 'back stage' things that contribute to the Magic inside the park. Even at a 30 minute time, it would be a quick to produce, edit and have a low $$ count for talent and yet still keep the magic of the experience.
Nailed it with your ESPN comment. Great edition as always!