The Walt Disney
Company said on Monday its streaming television service will debut in November
in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
Offering film and TV entertainment including its "Star Wars" and
Marvel franchises as well as its ABC content and an extensive library acquired
from 21st Century Fox, Disney+ hopes to be a major challenger to Netflix.

It will launch in
Canada, Netherlands, and the US on November 12, and in Australia and New
Zealand a week later, the company said, and is expected to expand to most major
markets within the following two years. The entertainment giant also announced
deals for Disney+ to be available on Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku and Sony
internet-linked devices.

Chief executive
Bob Iger said during a recent earnings call the company would take advantage of
its control of Hulu to bundle an ad-supported version of the streaming
television service with Disney+ and ESPN in the US for a monthly subscription
price of $12.99. Iger said Disney was "focused on leveraging Fox's vast
library of great titles... for example reimagining 'Home Alone,' 'Night at the
Museum,' 'Cheaper by the Dozen,' and 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' for a new generation
on Disney+."

Former Fox
superhero movie franchises including "X-Men," "Fantastic 4"
and "Deadpool" will now come under the Marvel umbrella, Iger said,
adding that parent company Disney sees "great long-term value" in the
titles. The increasingly competitive TV streaming marketplace will soon feature
HBO Max, Apple and NBCUniversal platforms as well as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Disney+ will launch at a subscription price of $6.99 monthly in the US.-AFP