Earlier this month, it was reported that Disney would ban ads from Netflix across Disney-owned channels like ABC and Freeform. The news comes just as Disney is about to launch their own streaming service, Disney+, on November 12th.
At the Vanity Fair Summit today, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the ban, saying that the advertising department felt that it would be too competitive to allow Netflix to run ads on their networks. Iger said, “the division made the decision. I did not impose that decision on them.”
Interestingly enough though, the ban does not cover all Disney-owned networks like ESPN and not all streaming services. Originally, the ban was supposed to be for any streaming service, but Disney has since decided against that, seeing the opportunity to take advantage of the ad dollars from other streaming services that they don’t view as directly competitive.
In the next 12 months, there will be the launch of WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, NBCU’s Peacock, Apple’s Apple TV+, Quibi, in addition to Disney+. They will join an already competitive field that includes Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney’s Hulu.
And this just the beginning. Between streaming companies, also owning cable and network TV stations, and others owning your living room device — expect the streaming wars to become even more heated as time goes on.