by Thinus Ferreira
The Walt Disney Company on Tuesday announced that it will be rolling out its Disney+ video streaming service in a further 8 European countries as Disney remains absolutely silent about a launch date for South Africa and Africa where people are pirate viewing Disney+ Original content.
Disney announced that Disney+ will launch on 15 September 2020 in Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Disney+ made its debut in November 2019 in the United States, Canada and the Netherlands, and thereafter in a total of 8 countries including the United Kingdom, while viewers elsewhere in the world, like South Africa, have been pirate viewing Disney content like the Star Wars The Mandalorian and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series series.
In April 2020 Disney revealed that Disney+ now has 50 million paid subscribers globally.
Disney continues to remain silent about a launch date for South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa although MultiChoice has revealed in its 2019/2020 financial results presentation that it will be adding both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as over-the-top (OTT) video streaming services before the end of the year when it launches its new DStv Explora decoder.
Elsewhere in the world Disney+ has become available through traditional pay-TV operators like Canal+ in France, Sky in the United Kingdom and Hotstar in India, meaning that it's possible that a pay-TV service like MultiChoice could offer Disney+ in future, similar to how it will add Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
