Star+ is streaming service specifically accessible in Latin America. The Walt Disney Company owns Star+, and the content available on the streaming service is from other Disney-owned companies, such as 20th Century Studios, FX Networks, and more. According to Deadline, content available on Star+ will be moving to Disney+ in 2024.
As Deadline notes, the President of The Walt Disney Company Latin America, which is an international division of Disney, spoke about this shift. President Diego Lerner explained, “This integration will allow the unparalleled strength of our content to be available in a single app, providing an enhanced and superior experience, and simplified access for subscribers, who are always our main focus.”
This action mirrors what Disney+ is currently doing in the United States with the streaming service Hulu. As explained by Variety, a deal is in the works for Disney to fully own Hulu. This involves Disney buying the stake that NBCUniversal, which is a division of Comcast, has in the streaming service Hulu.
According to Variety, the Chief Executive Officer of Disney Bob Iger stated, “We remain on track to roll out a more unified one-app experience domestically, making extensive general entertainment content available to bundle subscribers via Disney+.”
The one-app experience is currently available as a part of a beta launch. Meaning, as noted by Deadline, customers can pay an additional two dollars more than the ad-supported Disney+ subscription to have access to Hulu as well. The official app launch will be available in the spring of 2024.
According to Deadline, Iger explained the reasons behind the beta launch, stating, “We are basically putting it in beta so that we can prepare parents, largely, to basically implement parental controls, because you’ll be able to access Hulu programming on the same app.”
Content on Star+ moving to Disney+ is another way in which Disney is attempting to unify various streaming services and companies.