Before we start with the LIVE COVERAGE, here is a link to my weekly podcast The Disney Beat, where I cover all of the week’s Disney news. I will be recapping today’s event on there later tonight.
(2) Welcome to our coverage of TWDC's Investor Day 2020. This annual event was scheduled for earlier in the year, but postponed due to Covid-19. The event is expected to last 4 hours. The focus will be on streaming.
(3) The audience for this event is primarily Wall Street and investors, however, Disney has been promoting the event among their fans more than usual, which leads one to believe there will be some fan-service.
Just some context before jumping into today's event. The presentation will be focused primarily on Disney's direct-to-consumer streaming services. This includes Disney+, their 67% ownership in Hulu, ESPN+, and HotStar (which is their international streaming service).
Disney acquired HotStar in their purchase of 21st Century Fox. It is similar to Hulu, in that it provides a sister streaming service to Disney+. Disney chose to expand HotStar internationally instead of introducing the world to Hulu.
Because HotStar is already a well known brand worldwide. If they tried to introduce Hulu to these countries it would cost billions and the success would not be certain. HotStar has a great reputation already.