BURBANK, CA — Disney is launching a streaming service for animated and live-action movies in 2019 and will also launch an enhanced ESPN sports app early next year.

The Disney app will be the exclusive source for streaming animated and live-action Disney and Pixar movies, starting with 2019 releases like "Toy Story 4" and the sequel to "Frozen."

In 2019, Disney will also end an earlier deal with Netflix, which gave the popular service exclusive access to the company's films for streaming. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Watch: Disney Is Cutting Ties With Netflix To Start Its Own Streaming Service Disney said it agreed to acquire majority ownership of BAMTech, LLC for $1.58 billion from MLBAM, the interactive media and internet company of Major League Baseball. BAMTech is a leader in direct-to-consumer streaming technology and marketing services, data analytics, and commerce management, the company said in a statement.

"The media landscape is increasingly defined by direct relationships between content creators and consumers, and our control of BAMTech's full array of innovative technology will give us the power to forge those connections, along with the flexibility to quickly adapt to shifts in the market," Robert Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said in the statement. "This acquisition and the launch of our direct-to-consumer services mark an entirely new growth strategy for the Company, one that takes advantage of the incredible opportunity that changing technology provides us to leverage the strength of our great brands." The ESPN service will air baseball, hockey and soccer games, tennis matches and college sports through ESPN's popular mobile app. The new service will be accessed through an upgraded version of the current ESPN app, the company said. Pay TV subscribers will be able to access the ESPN television networks in the same app.



