Q: What just happened? 

On the 26th June 2024, the two Disney-owned streaming platforms in Latin America ­- Disney+ and Star+ - merged into one platform, called simply Disney+. This mimics what has always been the case in Europe and other international markets, where the more adult-oriented Star+ brand launched in 2021 as a hub within the Disney+ service. The standalone Star+ platform that launched in Latin America in August 2021 will continue to be available to current subscribers for another month, until it is fully discontinued in July 2024.

The new unified Disney+ will be offered as either a Standard or a Premium service, with higher quality streaming and download options on the latter. Initially, neither service will carry ads but a cheaper ad-supported tier is expected to follow.

Q: Why has Disney decided to merge its streaming platforms in Latin America? 

The standalone Star+ platform was unique to Latin America, but this merger comes as part of a wider move towards consolidation across all of Disney’s streaming properties which began in earnest with the announcement in Q4 2023 of a merged Disney+ with Hulu offering for North American subscribers. Like Hulu and its content hub namesake, Star+ Latin America presented content for a more mature audience while the content offered on Disney+ was aimed at a younger audience, and in particular families with children. 

Disney entered the streaming business very protective of its kids brands and reputation with families, and in an era when consumers had yet to hit a ceiling in terms of the number of services they were prepared to subscribe to, separated offerings presented a way of driving awareness and uptake among discrete demographics. Three years later, however, consolidation and bundling are becoming more viable routes to subscriber growth and churn reduction in the increasingly saturated North American and Latin American markets. 

The other key strategy now being employed by streamers to support both growth and churn reduction is the introduction of an ad-supported subscription tier, which Disney will implement in Latin America following the unification of the two platforms. Given the stricter controls on advertising placed against content aimed at children, a broader combined offering makes the Disney+ platform more immediately attractive to a wider pool of advertisers.  

Q: Will this change Disney+’s pricing in Latin America?

This merger increases the subscription prices for Disney+, but the price of Disney+ Standard is cheaper (by 18% in Mexico and 23% in Brazil) than the previous Combo+ package for Star+ and Disney+. The monthly subscription will increase by MXN 40 and BRL 10, in Mexico and Brazil respectively, and similar prices increases are seen in the other Latin American countries.

Meanwhile, Disney will be hoping that the introduction of a cheaper ad-supported tier will mitigate the impact of the price hikes among subscribers. Initially, this ad-supported plan will only be available in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Colombia. Netflix saw a significant increase in subscribers in the region following the launch of a ‘Basic with Ads’ tier in Mexico and Brazil in November 2022

The new subscription plan prices in Mexico and Brazil:

Disney+ Standard: MXN 219 / BRL 43.90 per month;   MXN 1,839 / BRL 368.90 per annum

Disney+ Premium: MXN 299 / BRL 62.90 per month; MXN 2,509 / BRL 527.90 per annum  

Q: How will this impact Disney+’s Latin American catalogue post-merger? 

With the new combined version of Disney+, the LatAm audience can now access a larger, more diverse catalogue, including the existing Disney+ titles, Star+ Originals and sports content, provided under ESPN, all in one place. The Star+ merger doubles the hours of content available on Disney+ in LatAm, from 8,546 hours to over 18,000 hours (in Mexico) - another key factor Disney hopes will mitigate the impact of the price hike.

The merger will also give the Star+ Latin America Originals, previously available to a fraction of Disney's subscribers across the region, with exposure to a much larger audience. In the new cost-conscious era, bringing old content to a new audience base is one way of refreshing catalogues without additional investment, and popular Star+-exclusive Originals such as El Encargado already have a proven track record with streaming audiences.

Q: How will this affect original content commissioning in Latin America?

The relative lack of overlap between the Star+ and Disney+ catalogues means that Disney will need to continue to commission both Family-oriented and non-Family-oriented content locally to serve its newly combined subscriber base. However, the wider industry drive to profitability has led to a cutback in the number of international productions in Latin America commissioned by global streamers, such as Netflix, Paramount and indeed Disney. 

However, global streamers have shown themselves to be less wedded to exclusivity in the new cost-conscious era, which potentially opens up opportunities for more cost-effective co-productions with local linear players, as well as more commercial partnerships and streaming bundles. We might see Disney+ turning more frequently to acquired content to serve its local audience in Latin America, as well as leaning more heavily on the kind of cheaper, Unscripted Documentaries that were traditionally a more prominent feature of Star+’s local commissioning than Disney+’s.