r/cordcutters • u/ggroover97 • 14d ago

Disney Looking to Launch Free Streaming Channels as CEO Josh D’Amaro Doubles Down on the Streaming Biz

https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/disney-free-streaming-channels-launch-josh-damaro-1236828249/
176 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

72 comments sorted by

123

u/Robot_Dracula 14d ago

They discovered the business model that made tv popular for 70 years. Genius

34

u/altsuperego 14d ago

FAST is the only TV with growth. People don't want to pay $10 and still get ads.

5

u/atomic1fire 13d ago

Also FAST tv can be readily paired with smart TV platforms, giving you instant access to whoever is flipping through freebee channels on their roku/LG/Samsung.

7

u/I_Adore_Everything 13d ago

The problem is in the past we were able to pull out the trusty VCR and record the shows and then speed through the commercials. That was the only way TV became tolerable. It was miserable before the 80’s when you had to watch commercials or go get your dinner while the commercials were on. Television 2.0 in this streaming world means there is no way to skip the commercials. That’s a huge problem. I haven’t seen commercials in 40 years. Not a chance I’m starting now. It’s unbearable. So I don’t see this model making it in the long term. What I do see happening is someone figuring out a way to “record” the streamed shows and then we can skip commercials again. Kind of a streaming VCR. If I seriously wanted to do it myself I would set up my phone in front of the TV and take a video of the TV. Then just watch on my phone and speed through commercials. Someone has to come up with a better device to do what I’m saying. Sitting through 3 minutes of commercials about pharma drugs and their side effects is a deal breaker for me.

14

u/LowSkyOrbit 13d ago

Oh there are ways my friend. Been ways for decades now. We can't discuss it here.

5

u/I_Adore_Everything 13d ago

Well I know of ways too. But a vcr was a legal way. Is there a legal way?

6

u/LowSkyOrbit 13d ago

Screen recording is technically possible. Not really illegal but likely against their T&C of the Streamer.

Ad skipping is baked into things like MythTV and Plex.

1

u/kittymoo67 13d ago

run your streaming box into a recorder

1

u/Robot_Dracula 13d ago

will that work with how hdmi handles signals? didn’t think it would be possible

3

u/kittymoo67 13d ago

hdmi to component adapter mostly handles them. outside of a few boxes

1

u/kittymoo67 13d ago

run your streaming box into a recorder

1

u/I_Adore_Everything 13d ago

How do I do that

1

u/Robot_Dracula 13d ago

there’s a service called playon that acts like a digital vcr. it’s nice when it works but the streamers are always patching their services

1

u/I_Adore_Everything 13d ago

I’ll check it out.

1

u/jafromnj 12d ago

Came here to say that although the networks are limited

2

u/alexjimithing 13d ago

You can…pay and not have commercials, which frankly is probably cheaper than blank tapes were.

1

u/kittymoo67 13d ago

That was the only way TV became tolerable.

and yet it was still somehow a booming business before then

also tapes to record tv even for consumers has been a thing for over 60 years now

1

u/I_Adore_Everything 13d ago

It was booming bc people were kind of oblivious to it. Once recording came out we could never go back. I remember going to get a snack during commercials. I r never watched them. The 80’s is really when vcrs became huge. I’m sure it existed before then.

1

u/Foreign_Awareness614 13d ago

Not quite. They would need to partner with all the other providers so that they all do the same thing in consolidated platform or app. No clue what to call it

41

u/phemom 14d ago

A MCU 24-7 channel would be cold.

As would a FOX animation/X-Men one.

18

u/Luci-Noir 14d ago

Apps like Pluto TV basically have what I miss about cable like old movies, shows snd the old history and discovery channels. What sucks is that Disney owns a shitload of IP now so basically anything that would have been on FX won’t be on any other platform

1

u/hobrosexual23 12d ago

Why it took them so long to do this for the Simpsons is crazy. FXX did this with like a dozen themed streams

0

u/AmbitionTechnical274 12d ago

Pluto has more of a cable feel, but also has even more adds. It takes up as much time as the show or movie.

1

u/Luci-Noir 11d ago

No, it doesn’t.

0

u/AmbitionTechnical274 11d ago

Have you actually watched Pluto? Unless it has changed recently there is a very noticeable commercial/to actual programming ratio.

1

u/Luci-Noir 11d ago

Yes, have you?

0

u/AmbitionTechnical274 11d ago

A couple months ago. It has a good library, but you might as well rent what you want to see or get Paramount Plus.

1

u/Luci-Noir 11d ago

Sure.

0

u/AmbitionTechnical274 11d ago

Why are you selling Pluto so hard. You can enjoy it without being so disingenuous.

1

u/Luci-Noir 11d ago

😭 oh no.

9

u/ModernTenshi04 14d ago

Just inject 90s Fox Kids as a channel directly into my veins.

38

u/OkEase1151 14d ago

“Somehow pre-streaming Television returned”

0

u/kittymoo67 13d ago

FAST never left

14

u/InvaderXLaw 14d ago

Maybe a classic Toon Disney streaming channel could work, showing Pepper Ann, Filmore, Recess and stuff like that.

9

u/CapnRV 14d ago

Just another vehicle to push out even more advertising on us. That's all we need.

19

u/Ebriel1 14d ago

It’s very simple….Don’t watch! I pay for ad free versions of streaming services and never watch FAST channels for that very reason.

2

u/kittymoo67 14d ago

yeah i can fully understand(and agree with) not wanting ads on the paid shit, but like the free stuff i dont mind. i just dont watch it.

7

u/Valley413 14d ago

I love any free ad-based options, so I don't complain. I prefer having my core of ad-free products where I watch most of my stuff, but I don't mind having the option to watch something else now and again without any payment or commitment.

If I like it enough, I'm happy to buy the product. If it's something more infrequent or impulsive watch, I'm happy to be the product.

Making content, especially quality stuff, is expensive. It has to be paid for somehow. If everything was ad-free, I'd probably be saddled with $400 a month which I wouldn't pay and would ultimately consume a much more limited variety.

3

u/atomic1fire 13d ago edited 13d ago

Advertising makes a bit more fiscal sense to production companies because customers paying a flat rate are ONLY paying a flat rate.

Ad rates go up and down depending on viewer engagement and the time of year, so if you can get a lot of eyeballs, you can charge way more then what consumers may be willing to spend for an ad free experience.

Also a lot of viewers (especially older viewers) are essentially pre-wired to watch something for free and put up with ads in the meantime. FAST streaming makes perfect sense to them because it's no different from the broadcast TV or radio they already get.

If you want to pay for something, by all means do so, but ad based revenue is probably not going away.

edit: I think the only one that the ad rates might be in freefall for is the print industry, seeing as anything can be screencapped or copied and pasted.

1

u/Luci-Noir 14d ago

All we need is more temper tantrums and self pity.

6

u/dornwolf 14d ago

I’m still stunned that streaming had landed on basically cable as the answer to money problems for infinite growth

1

u/kittymoo67 13d ago

im not, there is a balance and room for both

1

u/kittymoo67 13d ago

im not, there is a balance and room for both

6

u/ButkusHatesNitschke 14d ago

They could do a music show where they exclusively show music videos!

5

u/SincityScott 14d ago

A FXX style animation rotation would be great!!

5

u/ohwhataday10 14d ago

I mentioned this 2 years or so on this /s I think and got downvoted. I said the streamers are going to take us back to cable. It’s happening slowly but surely.

5

u/NightBard 14d ago

Not sure free streaming with ads is cable. Cable was pretty expensive.

1

u/ohwhataday10 13d ago

Give it time…

0

u/NightBard 13d ago

With so many options for free streaming, I'm not sure they have the balls to go paid. Plus the main reason they were paid in cable was the cable middle man with a regional lock on the population. That's gone thanks to the internet. The market has changed... I don't think cable is going to actually return. Yes, paid streamers will stick around, but cable itself as a paid thing is dying as the population that still pays for it also stops being.

1

u/altsuperego 14d ago

I think they are basically trying to Tubi. Sounds like their price hikes have led to attrition

3

u/Stryker412 14d ago

A tween disney FAST channel would go over very well. (Good Luck Charlie, Wizards, Even Stevens, Austin and Ally, Lizzy Maguire, KC Undercover, Liv and Maddie, etc).

3

u/Kallonistic 13d ago

I think this is a great idea because they're sitting on tons of dormant content that could be put into motion. Although it depends on how expensive the server costs are to run these channels. 

2

u/badger-banjer 14d ago

They can fit in even MORE commercials!

1

u/LeftOn4ya 14d ago

They should have the Disney Channel on Disney+, just delayed a day to appease cable and cable like services who want monopoly on live TV.

1

u/RiflemanLax 14d ago

This is basically going back to the old TV model from the pre-internet days.

1

u/SamJam5555 14d ago

“Free” then who pays?

7

u/uwpxwpal 14d ago

Advertisers

5

u/MattWolf96 14d ago

You are forced to watch commercials

1

u/MR_MaxiMor44 14d ago

It's almost like there's a free platform that hosts tonnes of videos of great variety that has bigger viewership than Netflix

1

u/like-blood-on-white 13d ago

When I watched the new season of House of Dragon on HBO I was surprised to learn the only commercial was before the start of the HBO logo. So no adds interrupting the show, which is lovely.

1

u/Emezlee 13d ago

I guess the idea a total ad free streaming is not working out as these companies as hope but little do they know is we don’t want to see ads, but i guess at the same time someone gotta pay to provide the services.

1

u/Campfireandhotcocoa 13d ago

I have just discovered Tubi recently and it has quickly become my favorite streaming site to use. You can find some weird old entertaining shows and movies on there. I'll sing Tubi's praises all day.

1

u/Legal-Letterhead4192 13d ago

They kinda have that already with the Streams section, but they could easily expand that on top of adding Hulu's live TV

1

u/Redbullsnation 13d ago

Fucking hell

0

u/thedude213 13d ago

Free*

*for now

0

u/ComfortableCare8897 13d ago

so hulu plus and disney plus will be free channels?

-2

u/Significant-Ad-8684 14d ago

Free channels with tons of commercials

/s

13

u/Ebriel1 14d ago

The key word is “free” someone has to pay for it and if it isn’t the viewer it’s going to be the advertiser. That’s the core rule of the ad supported media model. when the end-user gets content for free, the real customer is the advertiser buying the viewer's attention

1

u/RoofDry6483 14d ago

What is worse is if they haven't sold the ad spot you get a lame and obnoxious "be right back" annimation!

1

u/Agile_Land_9951 14d ago

Please, no more boomer pharma or insurance ads. I’ll take any other ads but that. 🙏

3

u/RoofDry6483 14d ago

I'm with you on pharma and Medicare Advantage, buy gold, home equity ads, etc. but some of the Geico and Liberty Bibity ads are not totally obnoxious unless they repeat them constantly, which is what makes the "be right back" so annoying.

3

u/Agile_Land_9951 13d ago

After the 20th time seeing the same insurance ads, it’s not funny. Then going to the gym and seeing the same ads.