The streaming war has only gotten more intense with new platforms sprouting up to stake their claims in a saturated landscape, which would have been great for consumers if the services were free. Some platforms now offer that with a trade-off, by forcing viewers to sit through ad placements while watching TV shows or movies. That’s a minor inconvenience for the generations who grew up during the era of appointment TV, but hassle-free content is shockingly abundant online. One giant streamer could soon join the bandwagon by offering free content to stay competitive. YouTube has always been the go-to platform for those looking for free entertainment, mostly user-generated short and long-form content. Film studios also have dedicated YouTube channels streaming movies and TV shows, often with ad placements. Ad-supported services like Tubi and The Roku Channel have also followed suit, with new must-watch lineups coming every month. Sure, it’s unlikely you’ll ever get a chance to watch Avatar or Game of Thrones on Roku, but Disney+ and HBO Max would rather have you watch their shows instead of all that other free stuff.

Disney+

Disney is reportedly considering removing paywalls for some of its streaming content. The news stemmed from Thursday’s company town hall, when product and tech executive Adam Smith discussed the prospect. It was not a concrete proposal, according to the source, and Smith did not share any details about implementation or timeline. Disney+ and Hulu are currently bundled into two service tiers in the US, $12.99 with ads and $19.99 without ads. One insider said Disney is also considering other options that would maximize engagement on the platform, or to provide added value to fans. From the consumer side, the option of a free tier is innocuous at the outset, but many other subscription-based services have also offered this option as a smart marketing funnel. It reduces friction for those who come in intending to sample the offer, but are later converted into paid subscribers through long-term engagement. Disney’s reported “free-tier” service already has a template: you can watch Camp Rock, BEYBLADE X, and YU-GI-OH! episodes for free on the official DisneyNOW website, no strings attached. In any case, Disney+ needs to catch up to the competition, since Apple TV and Paramount+ are already offering full-episode samples of their TV shows.

In its efforts to boost user engagement, Disney has also adopted “microcontent,” short-form and vertical videos intended to court younger audiences. Last February, Disney+ premiered the short-form series Locker Diaries, featuring characters from Zombies, Phineas and Ferb, and Descendants in bite-sized adventures. The series is also free to watch on Disney’s YouTube channel, also on Instagram and TikTok. With an estimated 131.6 million subscribers, Disney+ currently ranks among the 100 currently competing streaming platforms. Netflix still dominates that list with 325 million subscribers, followed by Prime Video (200 million) and HBO Max (140 million).