Disney is closing the Disney Movie Club. As it shuts down its sales for physical media, it turns out that Sony will be picking them up. Sony will be manufacturing, distributing, and marking DVDs and Blu-Rays for The Walt Disney Company. The deal with Sony will also allow for the company to market, sell, and distribute Disney’s new releases and catalog titles on physical media as well. This will be done through retails and distributors in both the United States and Canada. Disney will continue to retain control of its digital media, like premium video-on-demand and Disney+ releases.
This will undoubtably lead to some changes at Disney, and potentially even layoffs. The studio is expected to conduct an internal assessment of all of its businesses that currently support physical media release as this transition happens.
This new agreement will allow Disney to continue to offer its movies and television shows to physical retails and also respond to consumer demand. Disney says that this will be more efficient with this licensing deal with Sony. This deal comes as Disney continues to look for ways to streamline its businesses and discover new ways to save on costs and monetize its properties more effectively. It also comes as Disney continues to lean more into its streaming services as traditional delivery methods become less profitable.
This update also comes as other companies have backed away from traditional DVD/Blu-Ray sales. Best Buy recently began to remove physical media from its shelves and was set to stop selling it entirely in 2024. Netflix also recently stopped renting out DVDs by mail. This comes as physical media sales in the United States fell $1.5 billion during the first half of 2022 to $754 million in the first half of 2023. This was a 28% year-over-year drop.
What do you think of Sony taking over the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of physical media for Disney? Will this lead to more titles being available to consumers moving forward? Will it be good for consumers? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
