Disney Plus is rolling out a brand-new section filled with content aimed at adults.
From tomorrow, subscribers will be able to access ‘Star’ – a new content stream filled with TV series and films from the studio’s other brands including FX, ABC, Searchlight and 20th Century.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Newstalk Tech Correspondent Jess Kelly said the new section is “definitely not aimed at kids.”
“This is a content pillar that is very much aimed at the older audience,” she said.
“When you think of Disney, you think of family friendly; you think of Frozen and all the rest but now what they are doing is kind of going directly against the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime.
“From tomorrow, users will be able to get content such as modern family, Family Guy, Lost and Sons of Anarchy.
“They also have movies like Pretty Woman, Grand Budapest Hotel and Deadpool 2 – so definitely not aimed at kids.”
Star
Star will be the sixth section available on Disney Plus – joining the likes of Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar on the homepage.
Jess said some of the titles available on Star are already available on Netflix or Amazon, although the company has said it will be exclusive to Disney within six months.
“They are going to keep moving things around and the key differentiator here will be what they put out as their own Disney originals,” she said.
“They are investing a huge amount of money in their own productions. We saw Netflix do this with House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and so many others in recent years so I think that will be the big one.
“It is definitely an interesting move by Disney. I think they needed to do it to stay relevant and target that older audience.”
Parental controls
The new section will only be able to adults, with viewers asked for their parental pin before logging in.
“The beauty of this is that it actually makes it as simple as possible for you to do,” said Jess.
“From tomorrow, everyone will see Disney Star appear on their homepage but you won’t be able to watch anything until you put in your date of birth.
“If you skip this step you won’t be able to view any adult content until you go over this particular step. Kids can’t do it because they need the parental pin so you need to have your pin number to do it.
“They will be protecting that content and the homepage will still be the PG family-friendly stuff.”
Disney Plus is currently available for €6.99 per month; however, the price is rising to €8.99 from tomorrow.
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