Disney's Fox Deal - 10 Properties That Will Be Selling Points For Disney+
5. National Geographic
Documentaries are an important element of any streaming services. Few subscribe for them alone, but every now and then audiences want a palate cleanser in between marathon film and television show binges. Netflix have capitalised on this, with series such as Making A Murderer, The Vietnam War and The Disappearance Of Madeline McCann sitting alongside interesting one-offs about subjects such as the failed Fyre Festival, the history of Funko and their recent behind the scenes insight into the 2018 Formula One season in their programming lineup.
Disney aren’t hugely known for their documentaries, though they do have certain arms such as Disneynature that focus on their creation. They now own 73% of National Geographic Partners, giving them a controlling stake of the company’s television offering, made up of five television stations across the world. Chief amongst these are the flagship National Geographic Channel and the animal-focused Nat Geo Wild.
The back catalogue might not be as substantial as Discovery’s, but coupled with the History, A&E and Lifetime networks that Disney already own in the US (they’ve been forced to sell off the European equivalents to adhere with EU competition law) it gives their Disney+ service a huge base of factual programming to pull from, covering a wide variety of interests.