'Historic' Disney+ streaming launch marred by glitches

Disney flung open its vast archive with arrival of its much-hyped new television streaming service on Tuesday, but big launch was marred by glitches which prevented many customers from accessing titles from Mickey Mouse cartoons to Star Wars. introduction of Disney+ marks a huge bet by media-entertainment giant, pitching it into direct conflict with on-demand services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime which have disrupted Hollywood media landscape.

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Overnight launch

It went live overnight on televisions, tablets and smartphones across US and Cana, featuring thousands of movies and TV episodes from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and National Geographic. Disney chief Bob Iger called launch "a historic moment for our company that marks a new era of invation and creativity." But after a series of posts on social media from users unable to watch, Disney ackwledged problems with rollout, saying it was due to strong demand.

" consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our high expectations," company said in a statement. "We are pleased by this incredible response and are working to quickly resolve current user issue. We appreciate your patience." real-time web monitoring service Downdetector reported at least 8,000 problems accessing Disney+ by 1400 GMT. Dozens of Twitter users posted messs about glitches, some using ims of Disney film "Ralph Breaks Internet," or hashtag #DisneyPlusFail. Ors complained of long wait times trying to contact technical support.

Excited fans h stayed up until small hours to be among first to watch " Mandalorian," a new live-action Star Wars television series which is among a handful of Disney+ exclusives available at launch.

In early reviews, Los Angeles Times called first episode "safe-but-entertaining," describing it as "long on impressive special effects and alien shootouts, and short on a fresh storyline." Vanity Fair praised pilot's action sequences but found show "lacking achingly human element of 'Star Wars' universe." New episodes will be released each Friday. Tritional Hollywood studios like Disney until recently have been happy to pocket billions by selling streaming rights for ir titles to likes of Netflix and Amazon.

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With launch, Disney will w forgo an estimated $5 billion in revenues from those streaming rights deals, and inste charge users directly for access to its archive of television and film content. Disney is undercutting most rivals with a monthly price of $6.99, or $12.99 packd with Hulu and its sports service ESPN+.

Disney+ will be rolled out to Australia and New Zealand next week, and most of western Europe in March. company expects to have between 60 million and 90 million subscribers by 2024. While some of Disney's previous rights deals are yet to expire -- for example, "Star Wars: Last Jedi" remains on Netflix in US for w -- Disney+ will be "exclusive streaming home for films released by Walt Disney Studios in 2019 and beyond," company said.

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Netflix boss Reed Hastings has said that his company welcomes competition. "I'm t saying we worry about m, we mire m," he told Dealbook conference in New York last week. "I'll subscribe, y've got great shows." Warner Bros parent company AT&T is following a similar strategy with its May launch of "HBO Max," while Universal Pictures parent Comcast is also set to introduce "Peacock" next year.

"Obviously re will be a lot of players out re," said Clark Spencer, president of Walt Disney Animation Studios. "But I think for us having that depth of that library and storytelling talents that sit within studio, it's really gonna be what sets us apart," he told AFP at recent "Frozen II" world premiere in Los Angeles.

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