Announced back in September 2017, it took Disney 2 whole years to launch a video streaming service of their flagship.
And even after hitting some hurdles on the launch day, the growth trajectory Disney+ took only minutes after its launch is almost as magical and surreal as the video content that the brand owns.
The story of Disney becoming one of the most downloaded applications in record time is an example. An example of how brands with a strong hold on app marketing can not just earn mass attention and break the internet, but have a readymade user base to make the mobile app development cost expense worth it.
It is also a testament of how big the OTT video app development market is. And how seeking answer to how to start a video streaming business like Disney Plus, Netflix and Youtube has become a norm.
In this article, we are going to get you a rough estimate of the budget you’ll have to keep aside in the name of video streaming app like disney plus development cost.
We will look into a range of different cost facets: the features set, the platform choice, and the difference in cost according to the region housing the partnered mobile app development company, etc.
What is Disney+
Disney+ (or Disney Plus as it’s also called) is a Disney owned streaming video service. It is fairly similar to the services like that of Apple TV+, Netflix, HBO Now, and Amazon Prime Video. For Disney+ too offers a library of TV shows and movies which can be viewed any time across a wide device range.
Presently available in Canada, US, Australia, New Zealands, and the Netherlands, the Disney+ services will soon launch in Germany, UK, Italy, France, and Spain, in March 31, 2020.
Although the article – and quite honestly, the entire internet – is presently talking about Disney+, it is apt to mention other OTT video streaming platforms as well. Ones which have saved Disney+ the exploration and validations effort.
Must-Have Features of Disney+ Application
Irrespective of which OTT video streaming application you look at, the feature set would be almost similar in all of them. What separates them in essence of how to create a streaming platform is the content.
Nonetheless, knowing the features are a prominent part of estimating how much does it cost to build an app like Disney plus, or any other similar video streaming applications. And answering how to create a video streaming app like Disney Plus.
1. User Profile
The feature is uncontested. Your users MUST be given a platform wherein they are able to manage the entire experience. Some of the things that you should ask your Disney Plus app developers to include in the user profile section are:
- Display settings
- Account settings
- Watchlist
- Help
- Sign in/Sign out
2. Explore & Search
A search functionality is one of the most prominent parts of any video streaming mobile application. Ideally, there should be multiple categorizations for the users to choose from. For example, Netflix has set categories around – Shows, Movies, and Genre.
But since you are new to the sector and would be finding your grounds, limit the categories. This way, you or your partnered Disney Plus app developers will able to manually handle the distribution of content across categories.
3. Multilingual
Localization is the key to acquiring users. While the statement stands true for all the different mobile app categories, it becomes all the more real when answering how to create a streaming platform. After all, which user won’t enjoy watching content in their regional language.
4. Social Sharing
By playing a massive role in the process of making an app famous, social sharing has made itself a must-have feature of a majority of applications. And an answer to how to build video streaming app like Disney Plus.
It is imperative that you have social media icons next to the TV show or movie listing to make it possible for the users to share what they are watching/ willing to watch with their social network.
5. Screen Mirroring
It is estimated that by the next year, the number of connected devices that a person would use would be six. In a situation like this, can a brand afford to only be present on smartphone? The answer is no. You cannot.
Screen mirroring is the one factor that all the video streaming platforms have realized and adopted. In fact, the adoption is so much so that making your brand present on multiple devices have become a must-have feature.
The importance is the reason why Disney+ has expanded its supported streaming platforms. Here are devices you can stream Disney+ on:
- Apple TV, iPhone and iPad
- Roku’s boxes, sticks and TVs
- Xbox One
- Phones and TVs running on Android operating systems, and Chromecast streamers
- Amazon Fire TV devices
- PlayStation 4.
- LG smart TVs
- Samsung smart TVs
While the list is fairly long, it should depend on your target segment how many platforms you are planning to add in the Disney Plus app development plan.
6. In-app Purchase
The next unquestionable must-have feature that affects the cost of Disney Plus app development is in-app purchase. The feature is how users will be able to pay you the monthly/yearly subscription.
7. Push Notifications
With an average American subscriber using 3.4 video streaming services, the need for the implementation of a well-devised push notification strategy is apparent. It is what would help you keep the users engaged with your application and not pass to other service providers.
Disney+ App Technology Stack
Developing an OTT video streaming application, whether it’s like Disney+ which only has original content or like Netflix, which has content from multiple flagships, requires a well chosen tech stack.
While the technology stack used in Disney Plus app development is yet to be revealed, let us look into the one that generally backs OTT platforms.
Now that we have looked into the sections of how to build video streaming app like Disney Plus, let us look into the cost segment.
How Much Does it Cost to Build an App like Disney Plus
The estimation of video streaming app like disney plus development cost comes down to three main factors.
- The number of features that you are adding in the application
- The number of platforms you want the application working on
- The geographical location of your partnered entertainment app development company.
Number of features, the first factor, along with the technology stack is what separates a $10,000 application from a $100,000 mobile app. This difference is what mobile app complexity is known as.
- Light complexity – User registration, payment gateway, video gallery, social media integration, basic video player, search, and settings.
- Medium complexity – The light version features + localization, subtitles, advanced video player
- Heavily complexity – The above mentioned features + ability to search for friends, push notification, chat, add reviews, comments.
The second factor that affects the video streaming app like Disney Plus development cost is the number of platforms the app would function on.
The cost would rise as you move from one platform, say Android or iOS to both Android and iOS. It will keep on rising as you add more platforms in the mix.
The third factor is the geographical location your partnered mobile app development is based in.
The average per hour mobile app development cost varies from East to West. While in the western nation like the USA or Australia, the average hourly rate would vary from $80 to $200, in Eastern nations like India, the cost would be somewhere around $25 to $80.
Besides these three, the video streaming app like Disney Plus development cost also depends on how you design a video streaming service.
Disney+ Application Design Cost
Creating a video streaming application with the intent to make it popular in the already crowded market is difficult. Ultimately, your success will depend on two things: The feature set and how you design a video streaming service.
The former is expensive to employ. The latter isn’t.
The whole idea behind the designing of a video streaming application like Disney+ is increasing engagement and eliminating clutter. When we describe the Disney+ design, the right word choice would be “Simple”.
The interface focuses on dividing the content in rows which users can scroll through on the basis of personal recommendations, curated selection, and new releases. The topmost row comes with a carousel with some priority titles to scroll through including newer theatrical releases.
The whole idea behind Disney Plus app design is to focus on the content that falls under Walt Disney flagship and not on the product.
The range that we can set, considering the above mentioned MVP like features, elements, and design for Disney+ like app development cost is: USD 150K to USD 200K.
With the financial and logical parts of the Disney+ like application development cost now attended to, let us head on to the business side of it.
How to Make Money on Your Disney+ Like App Idea
OTT Video streaming sector operates with three main monetization approaches. Here are the ones that Disney Plus mobile app development companies generally vouch for:
A. SVOD: Charge your users a recurrent fees – monthly or yearly – to access your video content. It is the model that 80% of the video streaming platforms use.
B. TVOD: Charge your users for the content they watch. They will not be paying anything when logging in the application.
C. AVOD: Charge money from the advertisers and not the end users. The money earned through this route is then used for offsetting the production, and hosting.
How to be Disney+ app famous?
Even amidst a heavy competition coming in from the domain’s giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime, Disney Plus was able to get a million people subscriber right when it opened its launch website.
The reason behind this mass attention that the application has been able to achieve is the doing of memories. Yes! Majority of the people who have downloaded the application or have shown an interest in waiting for the app to get live, are doing it out of the emotions they have towards the brand: the sentiment that Disney brings back their childhood memories.
Besides the age-old connection sentiment, what sets Disney apart is the marketing that they have been doing on other platforms. And through their partnerships.
- The brand partnered with Verizon to populate their application within the latter’s user base.
- Disney also came up with a Cyber Monday deal. As a part of the deal, new annual subscribers could save $10 on the first year of their Disney Plus subscription. This, brought down the price from $69.99 to $59.99.
- An extension of the promotion was where Disney+ partnered with Google. Under this partnership, the new Chromebook owners would get 3 months of Disney+ subscriptions with their device purchase.