Why Subtitles Give Disney+ The Edge In The Streaming Wars
By Rafael Motamayor/Nov. 20, 2019 10:00 am EST
The “Streaming Wars” are here, that much is sure. With an insane number of streaming services launching this and next year, and license deals for library content shifting around in the wake of the new platforms, everyone is theorizing over what will be the biggest draw going forward. Is it original content like The Mandalorian or The Morning Show? Is it having that one show you play on the background after a long day of work like Friends or The Office? Is animation becoming a new battle ground with Studio Ghibli movies and Nickelodeon becoming hot properties for HBO Max and Netflix respectively?For many families, none of those will be what helps them decide what service to go for. One thing that really matters but is never brought up in all the streaming service comparisons is simply being able to watch something that the entire family can understand – with the help of subtitles.My family is originally from Venezuela, so Spanish is our native tongue, but we have been living in Norway for the past eight years. Even though my siblings and I are fluent in Norwegian by now, the same cannot be said for my parents, who still have trouble watching certain movies and shows in English even if they can perfectly hold a conversation in that language. Like millions of people around the world, we have Netflix. The problem is that Norwegian Netflix doesn’t even offer English subtitles for most of its library content, and most Video-On-Demand services don’t specify the available subtitles for their titles until after you rent or but them. This makes finding something to watch that the whole family can enjoy a bit of a hard task, forcing us to wait months for physical media imported from another country, or even pirate the content we already pay for just to find Spanish subtitles online.
Why Subtitles Give Disney+ The Edge In The Streaming Wars
By Rafael Motamayor/Nov. 20, 2019 10:00 am EST
The “Streaming Wars” are here, that much is sure. With an insane number of streaming services launching this and next year, and license deals for library content shifting around in the wake of the new platforms, everyone is theorizing over what will be the biggest draw going forward. Is it original content like The Mandalorian or The Morning Show? Is it having that one show you play on the background after a long day of work like Friends or The Office? Is animation becoming a new battle ground with Studio Ghibli movies and Nickelodeon becoming hot properties for HBO Max and Netflix respectively?For many families, none of those will be what helps them decide what service to go for. One thing that really matters but is never brought up in all the streaming service comparisons is simply being able to watch something that the entire family can understand – with the help of subtitles.My family is originally from Venezuela, so Spanish is our native tongue, but we have been living in Norway for the past eight years. Even though my siblings and I are fluent in Norwegian by now, the same cannot be said for my parents, who still have trouble watching certain movies and shows in English even if they can perfectly hold a conversation in that language. Like millions of people around the world, we have Netflix. The problem is that Norwegian Netflix doesn’t even offer English subtitles for most of its library content, and most Video-On-Demand services don’t specify the available subtitles for their titles until after you rent or but them. This makes finding something to watch that the whole family can enjoy a bit of a hard task, forcing us to wait months for physical media imported from another country, or even pirate the content we already pay for just to find Spanish subtitles online.
