Disney Launching Movie, Music, and Book SVOD Service in UK

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The Walt Disney Company announced that it will debut a new subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service in the U.K. next month. Called DisneyLife, it will be available through iOS and Android apps, and will be able to stream to TV sets through Airplay and Chromecast. DisneyLife will include movies from Disney and Pixar, as well as Disney music and books. This is the first SVOD service to combine multiple media types. It will be priced at an aggressive £9.99 per month, which is more than Netflix or Amazon charge.

One knock on the service is that it won't include Marvel Studios or Lucasfilm titles. Both studios are owned by Disney.

A DisneyLife subscription will allow profiles for up to six people, all of whom can choose a Disney character to represent them. Parental controls will let parents set weekday and weekend viewing limits. Subscribers will be able to download content to watch online, good for keeping children entertained in the car or on a plane. Content will be available in five languages—English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish—for viewing and reading. Disney will expand the service to other European countries in 2016, but won't bring it to the U.S. anytime soon due to licensing conflicts.

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