Most Netflix subscribers with young kids have no idea Disney content will get pulled off the service
- When Disney launches its Netflix competitor in 2019, the Mouse House will pull its A-list movies and TV shows from Netflix.
- New research shows that most Netflix subscribers who have young children, who will likely be most affected by the change, have no idea Disney content will be removed.
- However, that doesn't mean they will cancel their subscriptions, likely because Netflix has made a big push to produce its own Netflix originals for kids.
For months, media insiders have chattered about Disney's upcoming streaming service, particularly what effect it will have on Netflix. But new research shows most Netflix subscribers have no idea change is coming and that Disney will pull its marquee content from the streaming pioneer.
Since September, Disney has released a bunch of details about the upcoming service, which will be "family" oriented (no R-rated stuff). It will feature 4-5 original films and 4-5 original TV series, produced exclusively for the app. These include a "Star Wars" TV series (produced by Jon Favreau), a Marvel live-action TV series, and "High School Musical" and "Monsters Inc." shows. As for movies, there's a planned "3 Men and a Baby" remake of the 1980s franchise, and a live-action remake of Disney animated movie, "Sword and the Stone."
"It will have the entire output of the studio, animation, live action at Disney, including Pixar, Star Wars, and all the Marvel films" as well, Disney CEO Bob Iger said in September.
In short, Disney is going to put the vast majority of its library of iconic movies and TV shows on its streaming service and not Netflix. This might come as a shock to Netflix users, especially those with kids who likely rely more on Disney's content.
To help Business Insider understand how it would impact Netflix, on-demand insights platform AlphaHQ got feedback from around 500 current Netflix subscribers with young children.
The biggest shock: 68% said they were not aware Netflix would be losing Disney content in 2019.
That might not be as bad for Netflix as it first appears, however.
In a follow-up question regarding how it would affect their decision to subscribe to Netflix, only 15% said it "definitely" would. Most either fell into the categories of "depends" (44%) or "definitely not" (25%).
Here's the full chart from AlphaHQ:
Disney has the most legendary kids' content around, so why aren't parents running for the hills?
One reason could be that, even without Disney, they'd still want to watch Netflix's other shows and movies themselves. But the other reason is likely that Netflix has been throwing tons of money into creating its own Netflix originals for children. The company has pumped out over 60 kids' originals so far, and continues on at a staggering pace.
And it matters. If you look at how much kids' content factors into the choice of whether to subscribe to Netflix for the respondents to this survey, 38% said it was extremely important, while only 9% said it was not important at all.
Here's the full chart:
That's probably because of how much they watch it - or at least how much their kids do. 40% of respondents said their children watched kids' movies or TV shows on Netflix every day, and a further 23% said they watched it a few days a week.
Here is the full chart from AlphaHQ:
So while Netflix parents might be shocked when Disney movies disappear from the service, it doesn't mean they'll start canceling their subscriptions. If their kids love Disney, it might just mean the family adds one more streaming service to the rotation.