Disney's "Disney+" is about to launch, and the battle of streaming media is about to start

Source: Entertainment Unicorn (ID: yuledujiaoshou)

Author: Zhou Rui

On November 9, Tom Hiddleston (hereinafter referred to as "Dou Sen") updated Twitter and INS after a year, " Rocky , tell more stories, make more trouble", stamped "Rocky" will launch a new personal drama. Fans in the European and American circles wailed on social media platforms such as Weibo, , Moments: "Chinese New Year!" - the instigator behind this is the giant Disney.

On the same day, Disney released its financial report for the fourth quarter and full year of fiscal year 2018. According to the data, as of September 29, 2018, Disney’s revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018 was US$14.307 billion and its net profit was US$2.322 billion. , an increase of 33% year-on-year, after removing other comparable factors, the diluted earnings per share (EPS) in the fourth quarter increased by 38% over the same period last year. In fiscal year 2018, the operating income was US$59.434 billion, and the net profit was US$12.598 billion, a year-on-year increase of 40%. EPS increased by 24% year-on-year.

At the same time, Disney revealed that after the streaming media ESPN+, Disney’s next streaming service will be officially named Disney+, and it is planned to be launched in the United States in the second half of 2019. Its content will integrate the company’s Disney, Pixar, , Marvel, Star Wars, and 21st Century Fox content including National Geographic. "Rocky's Personal Series" by in the European and American circles is one of them.

This financial report represents the dignity of the Disney giant. Data show that in fiscal year 2017, Disney achieved revenue of US$55.137 billion, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 1%, and net profit of US$8.98 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 4%. The reason for this is believed to be due to the sluggish global economic environment at that time on the one hand, and the sluggish business sectors such as Disney’s internal media network, film and television, and derivatives on the one hand. Disney’s “middle-age crisis” began to spread.

Fiscal 2018 saw Disney come back on its feet. After the announcement of the financial report, Disney closed at US$116 for the first time on the day, and its current total market value has reached US$175.495 billion. It is worth mentioning that Netflix closed at $317.92 on the same day, and its current total market value is about $132.339 billion. In May of this year, the market value of Netflix surpassed that of Disney. The whole world is discussing the change of ownership and the decline of the giant. Now time tells you, everything will have to wait and see.

Disney’s 2018 fiscal year bumper harvest

How much movie IP contributed?

Regarding Disney’s fiscal year 2018 performance, Disney’s chairman and chief executive officerRobert Iger said that this data “created the highest revenue, net income and earnings per share ever,” and revealed that Come down to Disney’s focus, “focus on successfully completing the acquisition and integration of Fox in the 21st century, as well as the development of direct-to-consumer business (Direct-to-Consumer), including the much-anticipated launch in the second half of next year. Disney-branded streaming service". It's clear that there will be a battle in the streaming media market, and Disney's army is fully equipped.

In addition to the empire built by the giant in the past 90 years, the world’s unstoppable theme parks, as well as the movie business, content, and derivatives authorizations that gather many IPs, provide Disney with the confidence to fight. ’s fiscal year 2018 revenue hit a record high, not only benefiting from the stable development of theme park and resort business, but also the explosion of film business.

In the fiscal year of 2017, Disney’s movie studio’s revenue was 8.379 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11%, and the decline rate exceeded double digits. The main reason is that during the reporting period, the box office of Disney's main work " Cars 3" was not satisfactory, and the middle-aged crisis of "Hero" failed to impress the film market. In the lower circle of Pixar animated films.

At the same time, the animated film that Disney was developing at that time was cancelled, and the release planThe delay caused an increase in the cost of the film. For the year, Disney Studios' operating profit was $218 million, down 43% year-over-year. Such a large gap in

is due to the contrast brought about by the high revenue of the "Star Wars" series in fiscal year 2016. On December 18, 2015, Disney released "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (hereinafter referred to as "Star Wars 7"). As the ten-year return of the Star Wars IP, the global box office of the film reached 2.068 billion U.S. dollars, and the box office ranking ranked first in the world. third.

At the same time, there is a certain relationship between movie box office and derivative consumption, such as the huge peripheral derivative dividends of the "Star Wars" series of movies. Some media once estimated that in the first year of the release of "Star Wars 7", the sales of peripheral products will be between 3 billion and 5 billion US dollars. This also explains to a certain extent the reason why the revenue of derivative consumer goods and interactive media in 2017 declined compared with last year.

In fiscal year 2018, Disney’s film business climbed rapidly. The operating income of the film industry reached 9.987 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 19%, and the revenue and profit reached 2.980 billion, a year-on-year increase of 27%. This quarter, film and television profits increased by 100% year-on-year.

The reason for the increase in the performance of the film industry is due to "Black Panther", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi " (hereinafter referred to as "Star Wars 8"), "Avengers 3: Infinity War" (hereinafter referred to as " Revenge") "United 3"), "Ant-Man 2" and " The Incredibles 2" and other IP films at the box office, while film costs have decreased, and TV/VOD and home entertainment distribution have increased.

From the domestic box office market of imported films this year, you can feel the weight of Disney movies, from commercial blockbusters to high-quality animations, covering all age groups, among which Marvel IP has the best box office cashability in the domestic market. "Black Panther" set off a phenomenon-level movie-watching boom in overseas markets due to racial elements. Although the domestic box office was only 662 million, the global box office reached 1.346 billion US dollars, squeezing into the top ten in the global box office; heroes "died" together The "Reunion 3" made the global Marvel fans immersed in the reluctance of the first-generation hero's curtain call since April. The global box office exceeded 2 billion US dollars in one fell swoop, and it also firmly sat at the box office champion of domestic imported films in 2018.

Driven by blockbuster blockbusters, Disney’s consumer goods and interactive media business revenue and profit also rose year-on-year in fiscal year 2018, with revenue reaching US$4.651 billion and profit reaching US$1.632 billion.

streaming media battle:

Disney's efforts Who is the ultimate overlord?

In addition to Disney blockbusters, the public's real attention is focused on Disney+, the new streaming media platform launched by Disney in the second half of 2019. Disney will finally have a tough battle in the streaming media market. Netflix is ​​the dominant player, but Amazon, Hulu and other platforms are clinging on, and there are giants such as Apple and Wal-Mart waiting for opportunities. insiders observe the situation, and the public is already gearing up. Everyone is eager to know who will be the future overlord.

Judging from the current situation, Disney+ will have considerable IP advantages. It is understood that Disney has planned to gradually withdraw its IP works from other streaming media platforms. Disney has previously stated that Disney+ will exclusively release films produced by Disney and Pixar, including " Toy Story 4", " Frozen 2" and the live-action version of " The Lion King " scheduled for 2019. Then it was added again, After the end of 2019, the public can only see the Marvel and "Star Wars" series of movies on the Disney+ video service.

That's a lot of pressure for other streamers. On the one hand, streaming media such as Netflix are facing pressure from traditional media. Veteran TV media such as HBO, oracle dramas such as "Game of Thrones" and " Westworld " represent the "afterglow of traditional empires". The platform automatically avoids it. On the other hand,

is the pressure of competition within streaming media. Netflix was born with the first season of " House of Cards " in 2013, followed by "Orange Is the New Black", "Making a Murderer", " Black Mirror ", " Crown " " and other high-quality goods continue to become a generation of streaming media giants. It is worth mentioning that NetflixSuperhero American dramas such as "Daredevil" and "Luke Cage", which x cooperated with Marvel, also attracted many users for a time.

After Netflix, Amazon and Hulu also maintain a certain amount of content output. In 2017, Amazon’s investment in original content reached 4.5 billion US dollars, and the platform series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" won this year's Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series Award, becoming the first streaming media to win this award. Hulu maintains its inherent market proportion by virtue of differentiated development. In recent years, high-quality drama series such as "The Handmaid's Tale" have also appeared. The streaming media market is undercurrents. The entry of

Disney is a variable for all platforms. In addition to Disney's own strong IP reserves, Disney is still developing new content with mature IP as the core. The appearance of Rocky's personal drama is not the only surprise. It was previously reported that Disney also plans to launch a TV series about the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Stan returns.

At present, the series that Disney has announced include the prequel series of the "Star Wars" series "Rogue One", the "Star Wars" spin-off series " The Mandalorian ", the Pixar animated film " Monsters, Inc. " animated series, the rumor of the movie "High School Musical" and so on. At the same time, Disney has a bigger killer. Disney began to acquire 21st Century Fox in 2017, but the $71.3 billion acquisition has suffered repeated twists and turns, and was finally approved by the European Union on November 7. Disney will be able to acquire Fox after completing the approval conditions, which means With Disney finally realizing the beautiful scene of "My Claws That Slashed Through Your Shield", the X-Men and the Avengers are in the same frame, and will also get "Avatar", "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", "The Simpsons", "Fantastic Four", etc. Content IP.

More importantly, Disney will also get 30% of Hulu's shares, plus the original shares, Disney will hold 60% of the shares, becoming the largest shareholder of Hulu. With and the new Disney+ and sports streaming ESPN+, Disney has three streaming platforms. The structure of the streaming media market will undergo tremendous changes. The impact of the changes will not only radiate to other streaming media platforms, but also eager latecomers. The emergence of Disney will intensify internal competition and increase the market entry threshold.

No matter how turbulent the market is or how the giants move, the audience will get the most benefit now. In 2019, not only Disney will have movies such as " Avengers IV" (temporary name) "Toy Story 4" and live-action movies " Dumbo ", " Aladdin " and "The Lion King", as well as a series of IP drama series , film companies such as Warner Bros., and streaming media such as Netflix and Amazon are bound to release more good works under market competition. Under the "fight between snipe and clam", will the audience reap the benefits of fishing and watch movies and dramas to their heart's content?

Editor: Feng Haixia