The golden age of traditional cable is over and has been for some time. As more and more people choose to pay $15 monthly subscriptions for streaming services over $200 monthly cable packages, even Disney is feeling a shift in the landscape. As reported by Bloomberg, Disney will be launching two separate streaming services; one of which is ESPN-themed and will host a variety of sporting events. The other will host the rest of its epic library content, including Marvel, Star Wars, and its many animated films.
The ESPN streaming service will go live next year, while the Disney content streaming service will launch in 2019. Until then, you'll still be able to watch Marvel and Star Wars films on Netflix.
As to why the change is taking place, it's not that hard to guess. Money. According to Bloomberg's report, Disney had recently reported a drop in revenue, something that almost never happens to the Mouse. The main culprits of the decline were a decrease in ad sales from ESPN and a "decline in the film division."
This is by no means to say that Disney is in trouble, but business is business, and a big part of it is seeing where the market is going and making the necessary adjustments to maintain profit margins.
Source: [Bloomberg]
