What to watch on TV, streaming and at the movies – August 19th – August 25th

Disney has revealed it will launch its anticipated streaming service in Australia on November 19, only one week behind its US live date.

Disney+ will cost $8.99 a month and will be available across most major streaming devices, including Apple phones, iPads and Apple TV, Google devices such as Android phones, Chromecast and Android phones, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Of all the forthcoming streaming platforms, Disney+ is seen as the most formidable challenger to Netflix given its global brand and heritage.

Australia is among the first five markets for Disney+ alongside the US, Canada, Netherlands and New Zealand. The company said the rest of the world was expected to be granted access within the first two years of launch.

Earlier this year, Disney confirmed a raft of the exclusive content for Disney+, including five Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows based on characters made popular from the films such as Loki and Scarlet Witch.

One of the bigger draws on Disney+ will be The Mandalorian, a Star Wars TV series to be directed by Iron Man and The Lion King helmer Jon Favreau. It will also roll out a series based on Cassian Andor.

There will also be a High School Musical spin-off series.

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In addition to new original content, Disney will have its deep library of classic titles, including its animated features, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars films and National Geographic titles.

It will also include 20th Century Fox content after Disney bought Fox in a merger earlier this year. In the US, 30 seasons of The Simpsons will be on Disney+, though it’s unclear if it will be available on the Australian library.

Currently, Disney titles are scattered across Foxtel, Netflix and, most notably, Stan in Australia. Stan did not return a request for comment at the time of publication.

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Watch all the latest and the greatest movies, including Disney films, on Foxtel, On Demand any time. Get Foxtel

While Netflix launched some years as a one-stop streaming shop, the global trend has been fractured streaming. TV shows and movies are been siloed off into different platforms, driving consumers to sign up to more than one service if they want access to all, or even a fraction, of the content.

To attract consumers, they’ll all be spending big on content, such as Amazon Prime Video’s reported $US150 million investment in a Lord of the Rings series.

Disney+ is only one of a handful of new streaming services to launch in the next couple of years. Apple will also debut its streaming service, Apple TV+, before the end of the year, featuring content from Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Reese Witherspoon.

Warner and Universal are also expected to come out with their own offerings.

In Australia, the streaming market is currently serviced by Netflix, Stan, Foxtel Now (News Corp, publisher of news.com.au, is majority owner of Foxtel), Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Premium, DocPlay and more.

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