On February 23, 2021, the Star brand launched on Disney+ in Canada, Europe, and select Asia-Pacific markets. Now listed alongside popular Disney-owned brands such as Pixar and Star Wars, the relatively unknown Star offers general entertainment content from networks and studios such as ABC, FX, 20th Century Television, and 20th Century Studios, and significantly expanded Disney+’s catalogue, according to Ampere Analysis.
In the UK, Disney+ now offers 3000 more hours of content compared to January - the additional 300 movies and 250 TV seasons represents a sizeable 66% rise in the catalogue volume. The inflation of the catalogue size varies by market: European markets saw an uplift from January by 50-70%, while Canada and New Zealand had increases exceed 90%.
Content targeted towards adults, including “Futurama” and “How I Met Your Mother,” goes some way to diversifying the Disney+ catalogue and making it more competitive with its major rivals. Children and family content now accounts for 46% of the catalogue volume, down from 66%. Comedy and sci-fi and fantasy, the top two favourite genres for Disney+ subscribers, according to Ampere’s Consumer polling, now represent larger proportions of the catalogue. The crime and thriller genre is typically enjoyed by older demographics.
A key driver behind the Star launch is to enable Disney+ to reach its new target of 230 to 260 million global subscribers by 2024. Disney hopes the additional portfolio of general entertainment content will attract new subscribers who were not enticed in 2020, especially older age groups and households without children. Star content will help to reduce subscriber churn while also allowing Disney+ to bring content back in-house that did not previously fit within its family-friendly branding, rather than licensing to third party platforms in international markets.
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