Today, Disney began publicly testing live streaming capabilities directly in the Disney+ app in the United States for the first time. The live stream broadcasted Good Morning America’s 2022 Oscar nominations coverage.
Disney released the following statement on the test:
We performed a test for live streaming capabilities on Disney+ in the U.S. with this morning’s Academy Award nominations. We are pleased with the results and will continue to test as part of our ongoing and iterative approach to deliver the best user experiences to consumers.
Disney didn’t make any prior announcement about the live stream other than promoting the event direct in the Disney+ app.
Having the ability to live stream events like the Oscar ceremony would give Disney+ a competitive advantage over other streaming services like Netflix. This certainly opens up the door to possible future live streams such as sporting events and live events such as D23, red carpets and more, all directly on Disney+.
There is speculation that ESPN+ and Hulu, which both offer live streaming, will merge with Disney+ in the future. It’s possible that Disney wanted to test live streaming technology on Disney+ to accommodate that merger, although this isn’t expected to happen anytime soon.
While Disney hasn’t revealed any plans on how they’ll be using live streaming in the future, it certainly seems that Disney does have further plans for this technology.