Disney+ scores multiyear deal with Sky in the U.K.

Disney and European pay TV operator Sky today announced a deal that will make the Disney+ streaming service available to Sky Q customers in parts of Europe.

The multiyear deal, which confirms reports from January, makes Disney+ available for purchase in the U.K. and Ireland on Sky Q. The SVOD will be available through Now TV in the coming months. The deal also includes first-pay window rights for 20th Century titles.

We’ve built a strong partnership with Disney over three decades and we’re pleased that our customers in the U.K. and Ireland can continue to enjoy their world-class content – all in one place on Sky Q. This is a great start to what is set to be another stellar year for Sky – in 2020 we’ll launch new channels and genres, start building Sky Studios Elstree and we’ve got brilliant new and returning originals coming too,” said Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch in a statement.

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"We are delighted that Sky is selling the Disney+ service on their platform and, along with our other distribution partners, will deliver exceptional reach at launch,” said Kevin Mayer, chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International, in a statement.

For Disney, international markets will be key to fueling the next stage of growth for Disney+, which launched in November 2019. The service got off to a roaring start and tallied up 28.6 million paid subscribers by February, but the company warned that domestic growth will likely slow down until later this year when more high-profile original series launch on Disney+.

“In the near-term, we expect subscriber growth to come primarily from outside the U.S., with the next meaningful phase of domestic subscriber growth likely to coincide with the release later this calendar year of highly anticipated original content, including episodic series from Marvel and Season 2 of The Mandalorian,” said Disney CFO Christine McCarthy, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript.