As the problem for social media apps and sites began to pool inside China, people might have a better solution for the banned apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, or Twitter in China. However, it seems Disney has a solution as their app will permit people to binge watch their favorite movies and television shows.
The brand new app was made all thanks to a new licensing deal between Alibaba Group's entertainment unit and Disney. This deal makes Alibaba the largest distributor of Disney animated content in China.
To make things better, films and shows will be available for viewing on Alibaba's streaming video service Youku, as well as a number of other distribution channels.
The new partnership between the two corporations arrives nearly two years after Disney's own streaming video service, DisneyLife, stopped operations in China where it was live for just five months. Apparently, Chinese regulators ordered that the service be shut down. But now that a Chinese company is distributing Disney content, it looks like all systems are a go this time around.
Series like DuckTales and My Friends Tigger and Pooh are included under the deal, and around 600 episodes will be made exclusive to Alibaba's distribution channels for two years after the agreement is enacted. Alibaba can also show more than 100 live-action and animated Disney films, including hits like Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Frozen, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
In total, Alibaba now expects that the distribution agreement will allow around 30 million households to enjoy Disney content. In a press release, Youku president Yang Weidong said,
"The addition of Disney content greatly enriches the library of quality international content on Alibaba's media and entertainment ecosystem, giving us a leading edge in foreign content distribution in China."
As it stands, Youku already reaches around 580 million devices and sees around 1.2 billion views each day, as per Alibaba's news website Alizila. The platform is also said to have comparable licensing deals with other major studios like Warner Bros., Paramount, Fox, NBCUniversal, and Sony Pictures Television.
Even though tourists and citizens of China can't post a photo in Instagram, there's something that can compromise for that and that is being able to watch Western movies.
