Analyst: Pirate Bay’s Library of Disney Titles Will Not Affect Disney+
Hundreds of Disney titles will become available on a popular torrent website next month, but analyst says that won't affect the company's new subscription service. | Image: shutterstock.com
When thinking about the biggest competitors of Disney+, an on-demand video streaming subscription service, the obvious names are Netflix and Apple. However, one illegal website appears to be making a name for itself. That’s because it offers most of the streaming service’s content at no cost.
A trending article by the Hardtimes revealed that Pirate Bay will host 600 Disney titles by Nov. 12 , the same day that Disney plans to launch its streaming services. Hardtimes is a satirical site so we did our due diligence to check whether the torrent service actually offers a massive collection of Disney content. A quick search of the word “Disney” on the website reveals tons of titles. The number exceeds far above the claim of the satirical site of 600 movies and series.
The gargantuan collection of Disney titles available on a torrent website may pose a serious threat to Disney+. It’s already facing heavy competition before it launches. We spoke to the principal analyst of a video analysis and consultancy firm. He believes that Disney shouldn’t worry about pirate websites.
Analyst: Disney Content on Illegal Websites Will Have No Impact on Its Subscription Business
Authorities have tried to shut down the Pirate Bay for years. However, after 15 years, the illegal file-sharing website still exists. According to a June 2019 study conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Global Innovation Policy Center and Nera Economic Consulting, digital TV and movie industries lose an estimated $29.2 billion in revenue every year due to global piracy.
The numbers are astounding. It should be enough to make any Disney+ executive worried about the availability of the media giant’s content on illegal websites. However, Tony Gunnarsson, principal analyst at Ovum, believes that Disney execs shouldn’t lose sleep over pirated content. He said,
No, I absolutely don’t think the availability of Disney content on pirate websites, illegal streamers and file sharing lockers will have any impact on uptake of Disney+.
The analyst supported his claim with a strategy implemented by on-demand streaming services to capture the attention of their subscribers. He said,
Disney is not launching a service that claims to have 100% of all titles in Disney’s enormous library of new and old movies and series across all its assorted brands. Rather, Disney+ is going to be a highly curated service, with an editorial team that highlights select titles in each genre category, as well as deeper catalogues that subscribers can browse for themselves.
Netflix’s Top Ten Movies and Shows Account for Most of the Views
Gunnarsson added a key point about Netflix:
And we know that most Netflix viewers simply watch the top ten curated titles on the service – as opposed to the ‘thousands’ of titles that you’ll find should you dig deeper into Netflix’s larger library.
Gunnarson has a solid point. The top ten movies and series of Netflix dominate the attention of its subscribers with a whopping 828 million views. Thus, even if Pirate Bay hosts thousands of Disney content, it is likely that fans of the media company will go for the cream of the crop.
Pirate Websites Does Not Measure as a Good Replacement for a Dedicated Platform
Downloading pirated movies and series is not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes, you to have battle swathes of ads while navigating through a confusing interface. Other times you need to dig for a while before you find what you are looking for. This horrendous user experience is another reason why Disney fans would rather pay, says Gunnarsson. The analyst told CCN.com,
For the great majority of consumers, accessing pirated content requires a degree of technical knowhow or at any rate a basic awareness of pirate websites.
He added,
Also, while you may be able to find a select new Disney movie on a pirate website, for a Disney fan that alone will not be a good substitute for a dedicated platform like Disney+.
