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Walt Disney OTT platform Disney+ goes on-air in US, Canada, and the Netherlands
Mumbai: Disney+ has launched today in the US, Canada, and the Netherlands, with The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) CEO Robert Iger declaring it a “historic moment” for the company.
The service arrives with nearly 500 films and 7,500 episodes of television from brands such as Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic and costs US$6.99 per month or US$69.99 for a year.
Series exclusive to the service include The Mandalorian, the first-ever live-action Star Wars series; High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a scripted series set at the real-life East High featured in the blockbuster film franchise; docu-series The World According to Jeff Goldblum from National Geographic; Marvel’s Hero Project; and Encore! executive produced by Kristen Bell.
Beginning November 15, most new episodes of each series will premiere on Fridays at 12:01 AM PT.
“The launch of Disney+ is a historic moment for our company that marks a new era of innovation and creativity,” said Iger, chairman and CEO, TWDC.
TWDC expects to launch Disney+ in most major global markets within its first two years. It will launch next week in Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico on November 19.
It was announced earlier this month that on March 31, 2020, the ad-free service will launch in markets across Western Europe, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Disney+ features three of the four highest grossing films of all time in Avengers: Endgame, Avatar and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, plus animated classics Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty & the Beast, Pinocchio, Bambi and The Lion King.
Elsewhere, it has 30 seasons of The Simpsons, 18 Pixar movies – including Wall-E, Up, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Toy Story, Inside Out and Brave – plus thousands of episodes of Disney Channel and Disney Junior series. These include The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Kim Possible, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, PJ Masks and Jake & the Never Land Pirates.
It also features over 400 hours of content from National Geographic, including the critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary Free Solo and the streaming debut of Science Fair.
Also in the library are all six of the original classic Star Wars films released between 1977 and 1999, in addition to recent blockbusters Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. By the end of 2020, the entire Skywalker saga will be available on the service.
It also includes films from Marvel Studios including Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 2, Thor, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The First Avenger and Ant-Man.
Rounding off the library are Marvel television series from the 1970s to present day, including X-Men, Spider-Man and Marvel’s Runaways.
Disney+ offers subscribers up to four concurrent streams, unlimited downloads on up to 10 devices, personalised recommendations and the ability to set up to seven different profiles. Additionally, parents have the ability to set profiles for children to access age-appropriate content.
Starting today, consumers in the US also have the opportunity to purchase a Disney bundle featuring Disney+, Hulu (with ads) and ESPN+ for US$12.99 per month.
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Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
