How Disney+ March 2020 European Launch Will Lead To Mass Piracy Of &Quot;The Mandalorian&Quot;
Credit: Disney+

Disney CEO Bob Iger has announced that most European countries will have to wait until March 2020 for the Disney+ service, as reported by Cord Cutters News.

On the back of that, I can promise Mr. Iger two things.

  1. No Star Wars fan in Europe is going to wait until March 2020 to watch The Mandalorian.
  2. Come March 2020, The Mandalorian will have surpassed Game of Thrones Series 7’s one billion pirated views.

For more bold predictions about The Mandalorian check out the beauties on this list!

What could Disney+ do to reduce piracy?

Disney could always put episodes of the most in-demand shows on Amazon Prime for a few bucks each. It won’t stop all the piracy, but it gives honest people a way to watch as the episodes become available.

Believing people eager to watch will wait until March 2020, in this FOMO (fear of missing out) culture, is a recipe for disaster. Not only because of spoilers, but because people want to join in on the show’s discussions across online communities.

Waiting isn’t an option in this day and age! In consumer-driven context alone, it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which The Mandalorian isn’t widely pirated.

Everyone blame Sky TV!

So who’s to blame for Disney+ not launching in Europe? Sky TV! They have a monopoly on content, and this wave of streaming services is going to gut it. Hurrah!

Before streaming services, Sky had the right of first refusal on everything, plus deep pockets able to lock down and hold anything they wanted. This is what they’ve done with much of Disney’s existing content. It’s made it impossible for Disney+ to launch until 2020.

That hard-line approach by Sky only enhances the chances of The Mandalorian being pirated.

The Sky (TV) is falling!

Sky TV has had a long time at the top to build out a back catalog but didn’t. This shows their arrogance and “too big to fail” mentality. They’ve only recently started creating content, and so far their efforts are awful. This includes dog turds like Anon (38 percent), Monster Family (10 percent), and The Hurricane Heist (48 percent).

With each new subscription service hogging content and new creators heading to Netflix et al., Sky TV has nothing to monopolize. Except for sports.

Consider this holding of Disney’s content as Sky TV’s death knell. It doesn’t excuse the fact that The Mandalorian will become one of the most pirated shows ever, yet it’s a price Disney seems willing to pay for the European market.