Australia has been selected as one of the early launch destinations for Disney+, the studio's foray into the subscription streaming marketplace.
Disney informed the world of its updated launch plans via an update on their official site, with Australians able to sign up from November 19, less than a week after the service launches in the United States. The best news is that Aussies will be able to sign up for the price of $8.99, which makes the service cheaper than both Netflix ($9.99 to $17.99) and local streaming competitor Stan ($10 - $17). The price also means Aussies won't be charged the dreaded "Australian tax", with $8.99 roughly converting to just over $USD 6, which is actually cheaper than the $USD 6.99 price for U.S. subscribers. Not available in Australia will be the surprisingly good value $USD 12.99 bundle which also includes subscriptions to ESPN+ and (ad-supported) Hulu - getting the three streaming services separately would cost $USD 17.97.
There is no information yet over what subset of content will be available on our local version of Disney+ compared to the U.S. version. Existing licensing agreements with the free-to-air networks and Foxtel, as well as with other streaming operators, may mean that some Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm content that will be on the U.S. version won't make it to our local version.
Complicating the issue is Stan's licensing agreement with Disney, which currently sees many of Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm's biggest hits being streaming exclusives on the platform. It's unknown whether the launch of Disney+ will mean these content will no longer be exclusive to Stan, or if Disney may even choose to move all Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm content to Disney+, which would be a big blow to Stan. Stan's deal with Disney runs until the end of this year.
