Watching television has greatly changed over the last few years ever since the rise of streaming services, but there are still some audiences that look to be going back to the old ways.
According to The Information (via @DiscussingFilm), Disney+ is looking to introduce an old school concept in the form of ‘channels’ to its streaming service. The idea is that it would function like classic cable, and there would be different channels that users could log into depending on the genre or brand like Star Wars or Marvel.
The idea of introducing channels to a streaming service isn’t entirely new. Netflix had also tried to make their own channel feature which would allow users to log in to one continuously streaming channel, but I guess that didn’t really take off. I guess Disney is shaking things up a bit by having multiple channels that are curated by genre.
Though streaming does allow for people to watch whatever they want at their own leisure, a lot of users have admitted that they miss the idea of having to watch something around the same time as everyone else. There’s also the concept of tyranny of choice; with so many options at their hands, some users actually just want someone to make the decision for them as to what to watch next.
We don’t know if Disney’s new channel concept will fly yet, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. A lot of people thought that full-season releases were ideal at the start, but as time went on, they realized that weekly releases for a show was the best way to gauge engagement for a prolonged period of time.
Disney+ is now available in select regions.
