The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Disney+ to give ‘much-needed’ respite during virus outbreak
New platform lands in the UK and Ireland, allowing access to content from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic
Disney launched its long-anticipated streaming service in the UK yesterday, as thousands of families stay at home amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Subscribers will have access to a library of content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic – and will also be able to stream new original programming that is exclusive to the service.
The Disney+ platform first launched in the US in November 2019 and is seen as the latest challenger to the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.
It costs £5.99 for a monthly subscription, or £59.99 to sign up for a year.
Disney confirmed the launch date in January and it now comes as thousands of children in the UK are at home after nurseries and schools officially closed while the UK fights to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The Department for Education has urged parents to keep their children at home unless their work is deemed “critical” to the country’s response to Covid-19 and they have no other childcare option.
Disney has said it hopes to provide “some much-needed moments of respite” for families during the coronavirus crisis as it launched its longanticipated streaming service in the UK and Ireland.
Disney+, which has also launched in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland, will debut with at least 25% less bandwidth to ease pressure on internet service providers during the outbreak.
It will be home to more than 500 films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, 26 exclusive original movies and series, and thousands of television episodes, including the Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian and more than 300 episodes of The Simpsons.