December 15, 2017
The 2000s brought along a lot of powerful symbols and images: Juicy tracksuits, Paris Hilton, UGG boots and flip phones among them. But for many, the most enduring memories came from the TV shows that aired over the decade. Waiting for Sunday night to come, just to be able to see the newest Disney Channel episodes each week defined the childhoods of many West Essex students. Many miss the days where they could sit criss-crossed on the floor and gaze into their TVs to see Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez.
But who says this has to be limited to one’s childhood? Anyone could enjoy these popular programs from Disney Channel if the station continued to air its past shows, but unfortunately access to them are limited.
Netflix used to have several of these old Disney shows on its service, but pulled some of the most memorable programs such as “Hannah Montana,” “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” and “Wizards of Waverly Place” in January 2015. It also removed spin-off “The Suite Life on Deck” that same month. These cherished Disney series are made difficult to watch. Netflix has many other Disney shows available, such as “Jessie,” “My Babysitter’s a Vampire” and “Phineas & Ferb,” but for some reason none of the classics.
Netflix is not the only culprit, however. Disney shows are proven more difficult to find for some nostalgic binge watching, as they’re not available on Amazon Prime or Hulu either.
The next place to look after searching streaming services would be the network’s website itself, yet this too proves unsuccessful. Disney does not offer streaming of any of their old shows on their website, but there is hope for the future of old Disney shows.
Disney is working towards the creation of their own streaming service, where all of their old shows will be available soon, according to Fox News. They are set to remove all of their content from Netflix prior to the launch of their unnamed service in late 2019. The service will also feature Marvel and “Star Wars” movies, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“I feel that more kids our age will use it because we miss all of our childhood shows that they don’t show on regular TV anymore,” junior Emily Torchia said.
Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, also recently shared that the company plans to have a price that is “substantially lower” than the current Netflix monthly fee, which is $10.99 for their most popular plan. With all of these appealing qualities, the question becomes will Netflix be replaced by Disney’s unnamed service?
“Personally I love Netflix and think they have a huge range of shows and movies that Disney won’t have,” sophmore Tara Smith said. “Netflix has always been my go to and I don’t think I will ever switch to primarily the Disney streaming service.”
Though Disney is not the only competitor to Netflix—others include Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO Go (to name a few)—the introduction of yet another service where dozens of popular movies and shows will be exclusively featured could pose a threat to Netflix, who currently houses some of Disney’s programs.
To West Essex students, the new service is an exciting addition, but would likely not replace their subscription to the beloved Netflix.
“I would never get rid of Netflix, but Disney’s new streaming service could be cool,” senior Sarah Falkin said.
Only time will tell if Netflix’s empire will be harmed by the service, but judging from the response from students, it will most likely coincide with Netflix, instead of outright replacing it. Nevertheless, Disney hopes for another success.
