In recent years, Netflix has pioneered the rise of the streaming service as a primary means of media consumption, forever changing the way most people watch TV. 
With the rise of Netflix came the rise of other services as well. Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Showtime and all the other streaming subscriptions would likely not have seen the success they have without Netflix to pave the way. But now that streaming services have become popular and established, Disney has come to upset the hierarchy.
With the series of buyouts Disney has performed in recent years, the entertainment giant owns a significant number of insanely popular properties. Disney’s original properties aside, the titan company owns both Marvel and Star Wars, two of the most popular and successful film franchises in history. Disney has announced plans to sequester most of its properties on a dedicated Disney streaming service titled Disney+, which is set to start operation in late 2019.
As of now, it is unclear exactly which shows and movies will remain available on other services like Netflix and Hulu, though people are expecting most Disney properties to be removed. More importantly, it is unclear what Disney’s announcement means for the future of existing streaming services. Without Netflix’s extensive Marvel show and film content, will the streaming giant suffer losses? The Marvel-Netflix co-op show “Daredevil” has already been cancelled after a massively successful third season, likely in preparation for Disney’s own solo take on the lucrative character. Will Netflix take losses when it loses hit Star Wars series “The Clone Wars” or the several Star Wars movies it currently has on its roster? It’s impossible to know how much other streaming services will be affected by the loss of Disney properties, but I think it’s safe to say that the removal of many of the most popular and recognizable titles in entertainment won’t hit lightly.
It’s also impossible to know just how stingy Disney will be with its assets. It seems probable that the company will take back as many of its shows and movies as it can. After all, driving out the competition is just good business. However, rumors are circulating that some items, like Netflix’s Marvel Defenders shows, will remain on Netflix, and others will be relegated, oddly enough, to Hulu. Disney owns a majority stake of Hulu after their acquisition of Fox, but it is still unclear why and how they will choose certain properties to be distributed to the service instead of their own.
What does this mean for people who want to watch Disney properties as well as other movies and TV shows? Disney+ won’t have the same diversity of content as Netflix or Hulu, which means that people who want to consume Disney properties in addition to more diverse content won’t be able to subsist on Disney+’s comparatively sparse list of titles alone. Those who appreciate Netflix’s wide variety of content but also love Disney too much to let it go will just have to suck it up and dish out more money each month for an additional streaming service. As things stand now, there isn’t any way around it.
As streaming services multiply and entertainment companies continue to divide their properties among them, one can hope that the future will bring a way to consolidate these services. It would be great to have one platform that allows you to search through all the titles from every service you pay for, without having to constantly switch between them. It would be nicer still to only have to pay for one service without sacrificing content availability. Hopefully the entertainment market will eventually shift in this direction, but for now, it looks like Disney+ will be yet another entertainment app I have to download.
Keagan Miller is a psychology junior and Life & Arts writer for The Battalion.