Disney (NYSE: DIS) introduced a new app and website for buying Disney movies online through Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes store.
The Disney Movies Anywhere service for PCs and iOS requires an iTunes account, Disney said. In the future, it expects to work with other "provider partners," Jamie Voris, chief technology officer for the Walt Disney Studios, said in a press release.
The app uses Disney's "KeyChest" digital rights locker to grant access to people who already purchased a copy of its movies on iTunes or on Blu-ray. That stands in contrast to the UltraViolet digital rights locker favored by other major studios and retailers. "We had always made the decision we were going to do something different," Voris told the Los Angeles Times.
The new Disney service will work with other online video platforms eventually, but Disney felt it was important to start with iTunes. "If you want to be integrated with digital retailers, Apple is the big partner to have," Voris told the Times.
With the app, Disney has a place where it can keep viewers within its own ecosystem. In traditional online retail stores, users can easily browse movies from a host of different studios, but Disney Movies Anywhere features only Disney-owned movies.
For more:
- see the press release
- the Los Angeles Times had this report
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