Coming up, we're going to talk about venue sports, plus also the future of 911 lone star. But before we go any further, make sure you do hit that subscribe button to keep up with the ladies Disney+ News. Hi everyone, it's Roger here from What's On at Disney+.com, it's time for quick Disney+ News Roundup. So let's start off with talking about a brand new streaming service, which is set to launch later this year in the United States called venue sports. This is a collaboration between Disney's ESPN. You've also got Fox and Warner Brothers Discovery in here. And this is going to be giving lots of live sports for a number of different channels, including ESPN, Fox, TNT Sports, and also includes ESPN+ in here. So they've now announced that it's going to be launching at the price of $42.99 a month. You can also lock it in if you play pre-order for 12 months at that price. There's a seven day trial, and you're going to be able to leave it anytime you like. I suspect that price will continue to rise like anything. Now this new streaming sports service, I will have all the content that you get from those different channels. It's not going to include all the live sports from Comcast or Paramount. So you're still going to need to access them in order to access some of the sports. But this kind of brings things together. And obviously it's a lot cheaper than if you're maybe getting like YouTube TV or cable or something along those lines. And you're just kind of interested in having sports. Now this one's a little bit of a strange little service. It is actually going to be available as a bundle with both Disney+ Hulu and Macs. So you better get all of them together. No word on what the pricing of that is. We also don't yet know when this one is officially going to launch. Originally we were expecting it to launch in time for the NFL season. Now pre-games will be starting in like a week or two. We're not that far away. And yeah, that's not seem to be happening. There are some like core issues with the launch of the service, vubus sports. I've been trying to get an injunction to stop it. Also there's regulatory issues that might come about whether or not it is deemed appropriate or they can launch this. And I think overall this is a really weird product because I just don't get who this is for. You know, generally linear television is dying. And this feels a little bit like a stop gap to try and get a little bit of extra money on the way out. And it's going to be, I don't know, like pretty bare bones. Just a load of live channels and some ESPN content. Is that about it? Maybe some on-demand content from T&T. I mean, one of us has also just lost NBA, right? So they're not going to have it, but I suppose, you know, I think we might have other stuff on there, maybe like AEW or something like that. But this is just a very strange service. And I'm not sure, you know, they're saying they're going to estimate 5 million subscribers with no other streaming live ones has anywhere near that one. I just not convinced this is going to work. Also, Disney are launching a full version of ESPN anyway, which is going to be direct to consumer. And that will also be available within Disney Plus. I just don't know. I mean, is this just kind of something that's thrown against the wall, seeing if it will work? I also wouldn't be surprised if this does work. And maybe Disney will drop Hulu Live TV and kind of focus on venue sports as the kind of main thing. Maybe they don't really want two different live TV services. It's a little bit like, why? Why is, you know, it has to view to me. I'm just not convinced this is going to have enough subscribers to worry at the cost that they're going to put into it. But who knows? I mean, we're going to have to wait and see. I mean, it's that kind of question as well. If you're paying like 42 bucks a month, you're going to get access to some channels, you get like ABC and some other things. But why not just pay, you know, another 15, 20 bucks a month more and get YouTube TV and then you're going to get all the other channels as well that aren't. I don't know, if you're going to have, it's like, I don't quite get what the point of it is. It just feels a little bit of a weird one. And it's like, it maybe fits now, but in the long term, how is this really going to work? Those live sports are still very much a lie. I think that's needed for television. I don't know. I'm just not convinced this is something that's really going to work. But I just, it's always just like these free studios just coming out with an idea of going, well, we'll just do this thing. I'm going to do it as bare bones as possible. Because we know cables dying and this might just keep us going with a little bit extra cash for a little bit longer. No, no, but that's my thoughts on that. It just seemed a bit weird. But let me know what you think of the idea of venue sports. Is it something that you'd be interested in? Is it not? I love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments below. Thing is now, let's now talk about Japan because it's been revealed today that Japan Airlines is now offering a number of Disney Plus Originals on their in-flight entertainment for both domestic and international flights. So if you're heading into Japan, you're now going to have a selection of Disney Plus Originals to watch, including Loki, Mandalorian, Lady in the Trap. This kind of follows into what earlier this year when I did a flight to Vancouver, on British Airways. We had a number of selection of Disney Plus Originals. I think this is good all the way around for these kind of things to be on airlines. You're a captive audience, you want to watch something, you're much more likely to maybe to start watching, maybe the Mandalorian or Loki and kind of go, "Okay, I'll watch this when I get home, I'll subscribe." That was kind of cool. I actually did that. I think it was actually succession. It was one for me, a year or so ago. Did a flight, watched like two episodes, and then when I got back, I wanted to watch the rest of the series. So I'd subscribe to now to kind of get access to that. So yeah, I have done that myself, and I think that's a good thing. Also, there's additional revenue as well for Disney, bringing extra cash in for Originals. Yeah, I mean, it just makes sense for them to do so, putting movies on planes and shows and stuff, nothing new, but just a nice little bonus there if you're heading off to Japan. But let me know what you think of this in the comments below. Shifting gears now, let's start talking about another Disney Plus original, which is going to be able to reach a larger audience. And then that is Jim Henson's idea man, because Disney has announced it's going to be broadcast on ABC on our August 11th at 8.30 PM as part of the wonderful world of Disney on Sunday nights. So obviously, if you haven't seen this documentary, and maybe you haven't got a Disney Plus, great way of watching it, which is a bigger audience, it's a fantastic documentary. Definitely would recommend people check it out. It's nice to see this kind of stuff happening. I think we're going to see more of this, and it makes sense from Disney's point of view to take advantage of content, putting it out on their linear networks, and on their streaming service, getting money from advertising for both, especially in the summer when there's not as many new shows and things out, just makes sense to me. But let me know, are you going to be checking it out or have you already checked it out? Let me hear your thoughts on the movie in the comments below. Let's now talk about 911 Lone Star. So the show is going to be returning for its fifth season that later this year on Fox. And this is kind of like a weird show that's kind of, it's still part of the deal that got made between 20th century studios and Disney and Fox, and when they all kind of, you know, merged and demerged and all this kind of things. So Fox was still licensing content from 20th television. And they've still got loads of things on there. You've got Family Guy, you've got, you had 911, but they canceled it, and then ABC picked it up, pulled it back, and there's been a huge hit. So the big question is going to be is what's going to happen with 911 Lone Star? So last year it got delayed because of all the strikes they weren't ready for it. They got bumped back for next year. They'll be returning in September, and obviously it's available then the next day when after airs on Fox on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus. And internationally, 911 Lone Star, like here in the UK, is also exclusive to the platform. So, you know, it's a way of watching it. Never really got into that. 911 was a bit of an odd one for me. Sometimes I like it. Sometimes I don't, I'm a little bit hot and cold on that one. But recently there's been a lot of talk about whether or not the show is going to come to an end. Obviously Fox doesn't seem to be wanting to spend a lot of money now licensing expensive shows from 20th television because it's trying to move away doing its own thing. And obviously as shows get a little bit later into later seasons, they start getting more expensive to make. And so yeah, there's a lot of questions over it and also apparently they're recently wrapped. And Rob Lowe took part in an interview for Variety and he was asked about the future of the series. And he said, "We all went in pretty much knowing that this is going to be the last season. So that affected everything we did. We really wanted to show everyone what is still possible in network television if people have the app type for it. It feels like it's probably the end of an area of a certain type. Well, it doesn't feel like it. It's the end of an area of a certain type of show where we had an opportunity to make. And I think they're great. We wanted to go out making our case for the value of shows like this. And I think it's a really good job. The stories that we're able to tell on a weekly basis in terms of scope and scale, they're probably the thing that I'm most proud of. They were truly like mini movies every week. And I think this kind of feels like the idea of setting the tone, setting fans expectations, letting people know that in kind of getting ready for the news, that it's not being picked up. Also, it kind of might also rev people up to kind of get excited about it, kind of talking about the show, maybe encourage ABC then make, pick this show up as well and kind of think, oh, we've got a spot in the area in our schedule. We could do this. It could work. The ratings are good. We'll do it. But I do think Fox is just going to bail on this show because I don't think they want to spend that money on it. The question is, is ABC going to pick it up? The trouble is Disney is drastically cutting back on the amount of general entertainment content it wants. And it could probably make a cheaper show or a brand new one with, you know, different cast and stuff. I don't know. It's a bit odd. I do think this was probably coming to an end. We're seeing this with a lot of these kind of legacy shows. But also seeing this big shift with, you know, we've seen all these like weekly, like months of the week, you know, that kind of thing, where those shows have kind of died off but they're not seeing as many of them being released anymore. Everything's kind of becoming shorter limited series on streaming. Yeah, it's kind of 911 Lone Star. These kind of shows that were on linear are becoming less and less. So it will be interesting to see what happens with it. I still think there's a market for this. I still think it works. And I don't think you always want, you know, six, eight episodes of one story. You know, you can have something a little bit longer, just individual story, just get in, get out lots of different options and stuff. But I don't know, I think if them going into it, expecting it to be the last one, hopefully they've kind of wrapped up the stories and done all that. And if it does get picked up, they've got options. Maybe they filmed like two endings or something like that. But yeah, I kind of get the feeling that they are expecting this to be the end of the road for no more one Lone Star. But let me know, is this a show you've enjoyed? Is it not? And obviously you can watch previous episodes from previous four seasons on Hulu and Hulu and Hulu and Disney Plus and the US and on Disney Plus around the world. But let me know your thoughts in the comments below. And our question today, which comes from Goon Cow, who says with Disney and BBC wanted to continue their relationship, do you see BBC, I play a possibly merged into Disney Plus. So this was a really interesting one. So I think there was a way of looking at this in two different ways. So first off, outside of the UK, it's possible, you know, Disney could do a deal with the BBC to license their content into it. It's very much possible. But I think there's a big problem here. And here in the UK, it could never happen. And that is because this is a public platform. It works very differently. And did anything that you might know, especially for our audiences outside of the UK. So with the BBC, it's owned by the government and stuff. And we all have to pay a TV license, whereas I think I'm here about 30, 40 pound every quarter. Now I do it on a direct ever. And if you watch live television, you have to have it. So even if you are watching sports on Netflix and some of that, you would have to have it. Up until recently, it was a literally a criminal offense. If you didn't have a TV license, you could end up getting fined and even go into prison. It was pretty serious. They kind of took that element away from it. A lot of less people are paying for it. The revenue is dropping down. But TV licenses, basically, you know, if you aren't paying it, they will send you letters and stuff and they can come to your house and ask to sort of check stuff and things like this. It was always like the big boogeyman story that they had machines that were cars that would go around the streets and they can detect if you had an idea. And it was like urban myths and stuff, all this stuff. It works very differently. Like I said, it's a TV license. We are required to have it by law if you use live streaming. I think even if you are live streaming from YouTube, you would have to pay for this. And that's a big debate of where it works. So because it's done by public funding, that's why there's no advertisements and stuff because we're paying for it. And yeah, it's run by the government. So the idea of them teaming up with an American company goes against every aspect of it. Them teaming up for a couple of shows and stuff things like that, they can get away with because it saves money and it's in the, you know, our interest. But yeah, if this is a public broadcast system, it could not merge with that one. Now, the question is whether or not they were to license out content outside of the US. You know, that could happen. It's very difficult here in the UK. They kind of got a private company, like UK Gold and all that stuff that they would license their own old stuff to. But I think a lot of it as well, like especially for me with iPlayer, I'm paying my TV license. I should get access to that content through there. That's what I'm paying for. That's how I watch my BBC content. And I always have the view, I'm paying for it. So I'm going to watch, I do watch a lot of stuff on BBC. It's, yeah, I'm paying for it. So why wouldn't that outside of the US? They could do deals. I mean, they've done stuff with BritBox and all the rest of it. Apparently you think BBC is probably better just going on a case-by-case basis of licensing things out as and when they need it, because not everything is going to hit. Disney might not want everything that the BBC wants, is making, et cetera. So I'm not, I think, on a case-by-case basis. BBC's tried expanding internationally as well. It's just very tricky for them to do. But I think probably more likely you're going to see just ad hoc, title-by-title thing, rather than a massive deal. It didn't really work really for BritBox. That hasn't really clicked on. So I think we're really seeing now the consolidation where people are only really willing to pay for so many streaming services. And it has felt like Netflix, Amazon, Disney Plus are your free-core ones. And they can then people, they'll be able to play off the free of them and with anybody else joining in to try and get as much revenue as possible. I think that's where we're really going to see the industry change do. But yeah, definitely can never see this happening. I don't think it just legally could even, that possibly happen. As I said, it's not even, I don't think it's even possible. But let us know your thoughts on this. Anyway guys, let us know what you're going to be watching on Disney Plus over the weekend. Obviously we've got the new Planet of the 8th movie. I'm going to be checking that one out. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that and anything else from today. Go check us out over at what's on Disney Plus.com. Like, follow, and subscribe. And I shall see you guys soon. Later. (dramatic music) (clicking) You
