In a move that illustrates the growing stakes of the streaming platform wars, Disney has said it won’t allow Netflix to advertise on any of its TV platforms, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Disney, AT&T and Comcast are set to spend hundreds of millions to promote their new streaming services in efforts to compete with industry giant Netflix, which spent about $1.8 billion on advertising last year.
Disney, which owns ABC and Freeform, said earlier in the year that it would not allow any other streaming services to advertise, but ultimately changed its course and worked out deals with pretty much every service except Netflix.
The company determined it had some type of mutually beneficial relationship with the other companies, but not with Netflix.
Disney said the streaming landscape is changing, “with many more entrants looking to advertise in traditional television and across our portfolio of networks.” The company said it is allowing other streaming services to advertise “to reflect the comprehensive business relationships we have with many of these companies.”
Disney also has a contentious relationship with Amazon over the terms for loading its apps on the eCommerce company’s Fire TV player, which is one of the reasons there is no Disney+ app on the service. Disney Chief Robert Iger also left Apple’s board in September when Apple announced its own streaming service.
With more and more streaming services entering the marketplace, the stakes will be higher, and decisions such as whether to allow rivals to advertise will carry more weight.
Disney is launching Disney+ in November; it will cost $6.99 a month. Apple TV+ will also launch in November, and Comcast’s Peacock and AT&T’s HBO Max are on the horizon as well. All companies will spend heavily on advertising.
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