Thoughtnami™

Over a month ago, I wrote this article about how Disney should fully embrace the growing FAST market and launch channels that are untethered to apps or streaming services as well as providing several I'd like to see them create. A lot has changed in a month, and Disney shut down all of their free TV Everywhere-connected apps with the exception of ABC News Now. The ABC, Disney Now, Nat Geo, ESPN, FX, and Freeform apps are dead, and everything that those apps offered to cable consumers who wanted their shows on the go are now locked behind a paywall on Disney+ and Hulu.  The ABC app was interesting because they had several FAST channels, or as they called them, Unlocked Channels, connected to it. Among them: 20/20 ABC News Live General Hospital Spotlight Press Your Luck To Tell The Truth To Catch A Smuggler Wicked Tuna Car Chases True Life Stories The Incredible Dr. Po ABC News Live ESPN 8: The Ocho Cesar Milan Better Human, Better Dog Life Below Zero Lost Treasures Supernanny Days ...

Before I begin, I have to preface this with message: THIS IS NOT REAL NOR IS IT GOING TO HAPPEN.  This is a speculative concept that imagines a scenario where something is possible using what a company has access to. I am not an employee of The Walt Disney Company nor are privy to anything the unit is doing behind closed doors. What I'm presenting here is a work of fiction. The content presented here are the machinations of a guy who thinks entirely too much about stupid crap like this on a regular basis. I just needed to get it out of my system the only way I could - through graphical and written analytical presentations Now, the article. Enjoy: Disney HATES the word "free." I think that's been a part of the company's DNA since it was created because the Disney brothers were betrayed by the husband of their original distributor and didn't want to just give away things anymore. The company has always been resistant of putting their wares on freely-available ou...

We're a little under a month away from the launch of Weigel's all-classic-animation over-the-air broadcast channel MeTV TOONS in the United States. The network, aimed towards older audiences rather than kids, is a joint venture with Warner Bros Discovery and will present classic cartoon titles from many studios and distributors, including NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Television, WildBrain, SHOUT! Studios, Fleischer Studios, Jay Ward Productions, Gerry Anderson Productions, and others.  Even companies like Amazon MGM and Paramount Global are rumored to bring some of their classic animation libraries to the channel. Nearly every major animation studio who made an impact in the golden age of theatrical shorts and television animation will be represented on MeTV TOONS.  Except one.  The Walt Disney Company will likely have no presence on MeTV TOONS of any kind. It's not that unsurprising that they wouldn't want to be a part of the channel's roster of studio libraries. I...