Disney+ Is Betting On Quality Over Quantity With One Of Streaming Space’s Smallest Libraries

When it launches on Nov. 12, Disney+ will offer a total of 7,500 TV episodes and 500 films — meaning its library will be significantly smaller than Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.

However, the mix of third-party and in-house content it’ll offer is more highly-rated by audiences compared to content available through competitive services, Variety reports, citing data from U.K.-based entertainment analytics company Ampere Analysis. (Ampere uses a proprietary algorithm to assess the favorability of people’s opinions toward shows and movies.)

Disney+’s 7,500 episodes and 500 films will put it at just 16% of Netflix’s TV library (47,000 episodes), and just 12.5% of its movie library (4,000 films). It’s important to note those Netflix numbers comprise just its U.S. library, since Disney+ is launching in the States first, with later rollout to other countries. As for other services, Disney+’s TV library will be around 11% the size of Disney-owned Hulu’s and around 15% the size of Amazon Prime Video’s. Its film library will be around 28% the size of Hulu’s, but less than 4% the size of Amazon’s.

In fact, the only streaming services it’ll have beat in TV are niche offerings like Starz Play (an estimated 5,000 episodes), HBO Go (2,000), and Showtime (1,000). In film, it’ll top Showtime Anytime

(an estimated 400 films) and CBS All Access (100 films).

Like we mentioned above, though, Disney+ is pulling in third-party properties that Ampere says are more favorably rated compared to Netflix and Amazon. (Some TV series it’ll offer in its first year include Amazing Planet, Boy Meets World, and That’s So Raven, and all 30 seasons of The Simpsons.) Its film library will include nearly all of Disney and Pixar’s movies. And Disney+’s in-house offerings, like Marvel Cinematic Universe films and original series set in hugely popular franchises including Star Wars, are also highly favored by audiences.

Why is it so important for Disney to aim for quality over quantity? Well, upon Disney+’s launch in November, every single title will need to pull its own weight with viewers and help bring in that sweet, sweet $6.99 per month subscription fee…and fund the hundreds of millions upon millions Disney is reportedly paying to produce star-studded originals like Loki and The Mandalorian.

“Every Disney title will need to guarantee an audience,” Richard Cooper, research director at Ampere. He added that with higher-quality offerings, guaranteeing subscribers is “very achievable.”