Walt Disney Company’s streaming service, Disney Plus, also known as, Disney+ is finally coming to South Africa and four other African countries, the company has announced. In a statement, the Walt Disney Company Africa said: “As confirmed in The Walt Disney Company’s Q3 earnings call, Disney+ will launch in South Africa in winter (between 21 June and 22 September) 2022.”
Update: Disney plus will start streaming on 18th May 2022 in South Africa. Plans will start at R119 a month or R1190 a year. You can view more details from the official South Africa website https://www.disney.co.za.
South Africa is not the only country where Disney+ will be launched this year. Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia are the four other African countries where the streaming service will launch. Walt Disney Company said that more details such as subscription fees for each country will be shared closer to launch.
Other countries that Disney+ will launch in include:
- Albania
- Andorra
- Bahrain
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Malta
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Oman
- Palestine Territories
- Poland
- Qatar
- Romania
- San Marino
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- Vatican City
- Yemen
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Disney Plus was launched in 2019 in the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands and has since been increasing the scope of its reach. When reporting their Q4 fiscal results for 2021, Disney+ announced that it had 118.1 million paid subscribers worldwide.
Market research shows that Disney+ has become the third most in-demand video streaming platform for original content around the world, behind Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The streaming service hosts films and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. It also offers content from 20th Century Studios, Disney Television Studios, FX, and Searchlight Pictures in select markets.
South Africa is one of the most sophisticated TV markets in Africa and already has a number of streaming services operating there ahead of Disney Plus’ launch. BritBox SA, eVOD, Showmax, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, PCCW Media’s VIU, Vodacom Video Play, and TelkomONE, are the streaming services already operating there. South African Broadcasting Corporation plans to launch a video streamer, similar to BBC’s iPlayer, before the end of the 2021/22 financial year.
With all these entrants in South Africa’s market, we can only hope that the consumers benefit the most, as they will have access to a wide selection of content.
