11,000 People Are Pleading With Disney To Keep Content On Netflix

Disney excitedly announced its plans to launch two streaming platforms by 2019, but more than 11,000 are now speaking out against the company’s plan to take its content off Netflix as it rolls out the services.

During the announcement of the platforms earlier this month, the company said it plans to pull Disney and Pixar content from Netflix in 2019. The move has concerned Disney fans who are subscribed to Netflix, and thousands went online to sign a petition calling on Disney to keep its content on Netflix.

“This is a huge blow to Netflix users and Disney lovers who don't want to have to pay double to access the content we love,” the Care2 petition said. “The move might make business sense for Disney, which is eager to get a piece of the streaming pie, but the people who power these businesses should be taken into account, too.”

As of last month, Netflix had nearly 52 million users in the United States, which means all those people will lose out on Disney and Pixar movies. Netflix will have to give up right to more than 100 Disney titles in 2019. If people want to access content they’ll have to pay somewhere else.

“Historically, we could buy a movie or TV show from any number of sources. But now, we're being forced to buy subscriptions to multiple sources just to get the content we love,” the petition said. “We cut the cord with cable so we could have more variety and choice, but now we're just being pushed back into packaged, limiting subscription models.”

Some people who signed the petition elaborated on their discontent over Disney’s move:

Disney leaving Netflix and starting their own streaming service would be a disappointment, but we will not subscribe to Disney specific streaming.

It will be hard for our family to subscribe to many services to access contents we all love. if we must choose, I's think that we stay with Netflix. But that will be sooo sad.

We will not be subscribing to additional, programming specific services so our exposure to Disney will be significantly limited.

There are already too many subscription services. If Disney does this, then I probably won't stream them anymore.

We're retired and our meds cost half our Social Security...Netflix is all our entertainment.

The petition is close to reaching its goal of 12,000 signatures. International Business Times has reached out to Disney for comment.

Netflix Could Lose Subscriptions

While the petition singles out Disney, Netflix is not going unpunished. Two in ten Netflix users in the U.S. are thinking about cancelling their subscription if Disney pulls its content, according to a survey conducted this month by Fluent. Users who are parent of kids ages 0 to 18 are the ones that are mostly considering cutting their Netflix subscriptions when Disney and Pixar movies are taken down. However, Netflix could hold on to users if it continues to release enticing original content, like “The Crown” and “Stranger Things.” Four in ten Americans say they are willing to pay for additional streaming services to access content they want to see, including “must watch” shows.

Content Disney’s New Streaming Platforms Will Include

Disney announced it will kick off its direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2019, with an ESPN streaming service arriving next year. Disney’s platform will stream 2019 movies, like "Toy Story 4" and "Frozen 2." The second service will feature an array of sports programming, including 10,000 live regional, national, and international games and events a year. Users will be able to watch games from Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and other sports on the platform. They will also have the option to purchase individual sports packages to view select sports.

Meanwhile, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company has not decided where it would distribute films from Marvel Studios and Star Wars movies from LucasFilm. However, Netflix is trying to hold on to some Disney content. The streaming platform company is in talks with Disney about trying to retain rights to stream Marvel and LucasFilm movies after 2019, when Disney and Pixar films are taken down from Netflix.