Verizon wireless customers are getting Disney+ free for one year.
The deal is available to both new and existing unlimited wireless customers, as well as new Fios and 5G Home Internet customers.
Disney+ is due to launch in the U.S. on November 12, 2019.
Free Disney+ for Verizon customers
Verizon has confirmed a deal with The Walt Disney Co. to provide customers with free access to the streaming service. Eligible customers will be able to stream Disney+ for free for one year.
There also does not appear to be any major caveats. For example, Verizon 4G LTE and 5G unlimited wireless customers gain full access to the service. This includes an ad-free experience, streaming on four different devices at the same time, downloads, multiple profiles, and more.
This is in addition to the same wide device support. In other words, Verizon customers won’t be forced to stream Disney+ through a Verizon device.
Fios and 5G home internet customers are also eligible for the year’s worth of free Disney+. However, unlike the deal aimed at unlimited customers, only new Fios and 5G customers are eligible.
The new “Disney+ on us” deal follows on from similar deals struct with competing streaming services. For example, Apple is gifting existing customers a year’s worth of free Apple TV, while T-Mobile already offers free access to Netflix to its unlimited wireless customers.
A good move for Disney+
The Disney+ streaming service launches in the U.S. on November 12. The service is already expected to hit the ground running in terms of subscriber numbers. What’s more, many predict Disney+ will continue to pick up a lot of subscribers over the next few years.
Besides the fact this is Disney, one of the reasons behind the high subscriber expectation is the price. At $6.99 per month, Disney+ is significantly cheaper than Netflix and HBO Max. The latter of which is AT&T’s new WarnerMedia-backed streaming service. HBO Max is also due to launch in the coming months with the price expected to exceed $15 per month.
While this deal benefits Verizon customers, it will benefit Disney as well. Verizon already has a large number of unlimited subscribers and with the free access available to both new and existing unlimited customers, the streaming service will instantly see an uptick in subscribers during its initial launch period.
Following the free year of service, Verizon subscribers will be rolled over to paid subscribers unless they cancel the subscription. Of course, if they find value in the Disney+ streaming service during the free year then they are unlikely to cancel.