Disney Plus to Launch in Japan in June, Broader Europe in September and Latin America at End of Year
Months after launching in India and Western Europe, Disney+ will continue to expand its reach. During their Q2 2020 earnings call today, Disney CEO Bob Chapek revealed the streaming service will begin to roll out in Japan in June and then in additional markets in Europe — the Nordics, Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal — in September and then in Latin America towards the end of the year.
Disney+ launched in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland on March 24. In the UK, Disney+ costs £5.99 per month, or £59.99 per year (~£4.99). Throughout Europe (Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and France), the service costs €6.99 per month, or €69.99 per year (~5.83€).
After a slight delay, the service launched in India on April 3. The streaming service was supposed to launch on March 29 in collaboration with Hotstar, an Indian streaming service. The launch was to coincide with the start of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) cricket tournament — a huge audience puller for the service. However, the season was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns and affected the launch of Disney+ as well.
The service launched with two tiers: Disney+ VIP and Disney+ Premium. Disney+ VIP members have access to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bollywood films, Hotstar originals, unlimited live sports and Star TV serials for INR 399 ($5.30) a year. Disney+ Premium subscribers on the other hand, get access to all the content Disney+ VIP members get, along with 29 Disney+ originals — including “The Mandalorian” — as well as U.S. shows from HBO, Showtime and Fox.