Imagine If Disney Gave a D About FAST

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 outlets. They were very hesitant in putting their classic shorts on broadcast television, especially on Saturday morning television. Even the Disney Channel was created because they didn't want to share their wares with HBO (and this was Time-Life-owned HBO long before they merged with Warner Communications). The Disney Channel was also hidden behind a paywall and not a basic channel like Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network when they launched. 

The recent announcements of Disney removing Family Guy and Bob's Burgers from broadcast syndication and the upcoming shutdown of its stand-alone network apps are more of a shift to putting everything they own behind a paywall. Even having those shows with advertising will cost consumers. 

However, a funny thing is happening in streaming. Free advertising-supported television, or FAST channels, are increasing in popularity and viewership in the US market. Companies like Roku, Amazon, Paramount Global, Fox Corporation, NBC Universal, Fremantle, Shout! Studios, Filmrise, and, strangely enough, Warner Bros Discovery are entering and dominating the FAST industry. 

Disney, on the other hand, isn't. They bet it all on Disney+ and willing to spend billions for the percentage of Hulu they don't own. Aside from the FAST channels focused on ABC News (including Localish TV and their O&O affiliates) and their half-interest in the A&E Networks' FAST endeavors, Disney really isn't into FAST. I get the feeling their allergy toward the "F" in that name grates them. While other companies are turning a profit in that market, Disney, which has a massive library of shows, movies, and specials, isn't entering it. They's slowly putting their wares on AVOD outlets, but they're not interested in creating FAST channels of their own. 

Okay, that's not true. They created FAST channels, but they were only available on their ABC app, which, I have to remind you, is shutting down in late September. Not that they had any thought of what the channels should look like or what they would put on them.

But what if they did? 

Imagine, for a moment, that Disney actually looked at their massive library, decided to go deep into what they had access to, and decided to venture into creating a suite of FAST channels. Now, admittedly, they have decided not to put certain properties across other FAST/AVOD outlets. That would be PIXAR, Star Wars. Marvel, FOX adult animated comedies, or any Disney-branded properties. 

I feel that they could make an exception with some of those. No PIXAR properties or FOX adult animation? Fine. No Star Wars and Marvel? Well, the theatrical movies and Disney-era shows can be off-limits, but everything made before their acquisitions are allowed. 

As for Disney-branded stuff, I think the cutoff could be any Disney-branded series that exclusively premiered on Disney Channel before 2000 (Good Morning Mickey to The Jersey) and on ABC before January 1, 2005 (Disneyland to W.I.T.C.H.). 

Theatrical, Disney+, and Disney Channel-era films also are completely out. As you'll see, scripted films aren't going to be a vital part of TV Disney. Emphasis on "TV." I feel movies would be better supported through AVOD rather than FAST. However, older made-for-TV films would fit in nicely with the ad-based service, and I'd create a FAST channel that would essentially be the home of those early pre-Disney Renaissance TV movies. 

Eighteen channels.

That's all that's needed to launch this initiative. Fourteen will be scripted entertainment. Seven for families, younger audiences, and the young-at-heart. Seven for older audiences. Four channels will be factual-based entertainment presenting news stories, classic sports moments, sports stories and documentaries, and the incredible world that we live in. All are library content, not third-party acquisitions. And, if successful, more would be added in time, including some focused on a single series. All are built for nostalgic audiences, though new fans will be properly introduced to these iconic (and often neglected) series from the Disney library. But for now, the 18 are more than enough to launch a FAST service from Disney.

This is TVD: TV Disney.

The objectives are simple:

  • Utilize the entire library with the exception of the brands Disney wants to keep to their chest. Keep the majority of those on DIsney+ and Hulu. That's fine. 
  • Showcase Disney as it once was, which DIsney+ rarely does. Walt-era Disney television, including the anthologies and showcases. The pre-Renaissance years. The Disney Afternoon and One Saturday Morning years. Pre-2000 Disney Channel. You know... actual Disney. 
  • Acknowledge and showcase Twentieth Television beyond the typical franchises. The legendary comedies of MTM and some rarely-seen sitcoms from the main studio before the FOX network. Westerns. Dramas. Primetime soaps. Crime shows. Show the world that the former Fox TV library is more than M*A*S*H, The X-Files, Buffy, and the primetime cartoons.
  • Showcase the former FOX Kids/Family shows and the former Saban International library. There are scores of shows that haven't seen the light of day since they originally aired, and many more that hasn't aired in the US at all. Syndicated and UPN Kids stuff would also be here. And yeah, even put on some older Marvel cartoons that aren't just X-Men or Spider-Man. 
  • Present the full potential of the ABC News, ESPN, and National Geographic archives. There are scores of news stories, documentaries, classic sports, and nature programming that aren't being used or seen. This is a vast library underutilized because they attract older audiences and the main streaming platforms of Disney skew young. 
  • Understand that these channels are showcasing TELEVISION, not films. 

Eighteen channels.

Children/Family Entertainment:

  • TGIF (live-action family-friendly sitcoms from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and early 2000s from Disney, Touchstone, and Twentieth) 

  • Disney AfterToons (Disney Afternoon/One Saturday Morning-era cartoons from Disney)

  • Kids Club Favorites (Saban/Fox Kids-era cartoons/shows including Marvel productions from the 1960s to the early 1990s)

  • Jetix (Fox Kids/Saban/Jetix/early Disney XD-era non-Marvel Universe/Star Wars action cartoons)

  • MARVEL Animutliverse (Classic animated takes of the Marvel Universe from the 1960s to the 2000s)

  • Wonderful Worlds (Walt-era/pre-Renaissance television anthologies & shows from Disney)

  • The Muppet Experience (A quarterly selection of Muppet shows, specials, and various projects)


General Entertainment:

  • Mary, Bob & More (‘60s, ‘70s, and pre-FOX network ‘80s sitcoms from MTM and Twentieth TV libraries)

  • ABC Signature Sitcoms (‘80s, ‘90s, and early 2000s live-action comedies from Touchstone and Twentieth TV libraries)

  • 20th Television Adventures (Action and adventure shows from the Twentieth TV libraries)

  • Frontierland (western adventures from Disney, Four Star, and Twentieth Television)

  • Tomorrowland (sci-fi and futuristic series from Disney, Irwin Allen, and Twentieth Television) 

  • SOAPNet PRIME (classic pre-2000s primetime soaps and dramas from Twentieth, Touchstone, and MTM)

  • Crimes in Blue (critically-acclaimed crime dramas and fan-favorite procedurals from Twentieth, Touchstone, and MTM)


News, Sports & Nature:

  • ABC News Presents (news/true crime stories from 20/20, Nightline, and the ABC News archives)

  • ESPN Wide World of Sports (classic sports action from the ABC Sports and ESPN libraries, including the best of ABC's Wide World of Sports)

  • ESPN Sports Stories (sports documentaries and retrospectives including select episodes of 30 for 30)

  • National Geographic Expeditions (classic nature documentaries and series from the Nat Geo and Disney archives)


Eighteen channels. Completely free. No fees, no charges, forever.

Here's how I'd launch TV Disney:

Create multiyear contracts with various AVOD platforms, including Tubi, The Roku Channel, Prime Video/Freevee, Google TV, XUMO, Plex, and Pluto TV to prove that they're committed to the suite (adding them on Disney+ and Hulu would be vital as well). The core 14 networks will not only be seen across all platforms but also add an additional platform-only channel to the package. Perhaps it's another genre-specific channel or perpetual marathon networks featuring, a crime drama like Hill Street Blues or The Practice, a primetime soap like Scandal or St. Elsewhere, a comedy like Reba, According to Jim, or Dharma and Greg, or even a prestige series like M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, Bones, or The X-Files.  Disney could use the TVD suite as a way to create more lucrative deals to bring in more of the library to AVODs, making these series have value instead of just keeping them dormant in the Disney vault.   

In the end, TV Disney would, more or less, highlight and celebrate one of the largest entertainment libraries on the planet and showcase shows that tend to be overlooked by the core brands Disney tends to favor more. You won't find the MCU on TV Disney, but you will find some animated Marvel stories from multiverses of the past. You won't find Star Wars films and recent shows, but you will find stories and battles from a galaxy far, far away. The Wonderful Worlds of Disney and Twentieth Television Adventures will take you to familiar places where you'll watch the exploits of legendary heroes, perilous villains, and fantastic stories. You'll see critically-acclaimed crime dramas and sitcoms that have resonated with viewers for generations. And you could find these TVD channels anywhere you would watch FAST channels.

At least, if this was real and Disney actually gave a damn to create a venture like TV Disney. 

I don't think they'd ever do anything remotely close to this. Not because they can't, but because it would showcase Disney's biggest flaw on a massive scale:

They want to keep everything they own behind a paywall and only put out the stuff they want to see while letting libraries rot and out of view forever. It's the same reason you rarely see Disney TV productions from the 1950s through the mid-1980s anywhere. It's not that their older shows are bad because they're not. They would just rather focus on the more recent stuff, which isn't bad, just disappointing.

I'm sure one day, Disney will break out of its walled gardens and be more open to share the massive library they have access to without forcing everybody to pay to smell their flowers, so to speak. FAST has more of a future than traditional streaming, and I hope Disney won't be the last to truly embrace it.

Maybe this dream will come true. But I think they need to wake up. We all do.

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