Amazon would like a large proportion of ad space on Disney's applications, which the media giant resisted. All sides might resolve the problem, but otherwise, Disney's apps would vanish from Fire TV, the Wall Street Journal says.
The report suggests that Amazon had a market share of only less than one third (41%) of streaming boxes in the USA as of the second quarter. Unless Disney and Amazon do not agree and the features of the latter vanish from Fire TV, Disney will lose a major distribution network. Most people will find it harder to access Disney+ when it launches on 12 November.
Disney+ will have no advertisements, but negotiations about Fire TV delivery seem to have opened up Amazon to think about terms for the other Disney devices. Initially, Amazon is said to claim roughly 40% of ad space from television and streaming services, which often drop to between 20 and 30% during negotiations. Disney would have provided Amazon with 10 percent of the stock, so that there can still be a large gap between what is happy with on either side.
Disney does, of course, have Disney+ (and its other apps) as widely as possible. If they're trying to watch Disney, Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel and films, Amazon would definitely want them to use a Fire TV unit. So the companies will probably hope to find common ground very quickly. Disney+ will have Roku, iOS, Apple TV, Facebook, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One devices as things stand.
Such conflicts over software quality are not rare. YouTube was not on Fire TV nor was it available to Amazon Prime Video through Chromecast until the agreement reached between Amazon and Google.
In the meantime, Disney and Amazon partnered together on other distribution fronts. Amazon just introduced to Prime Video in Latin America a bunch of Disney content. Until next September some of the movies, Disney flicks, the live version of The Lion King and television shows such as Gray's Anatomy and The Walking Dead will be shown. Disney+ will not enter the area until the start of 2021.
