Disney+ is introducing a new Playlists feature that brings together themed collections of episodes and movies into a continuous viewing experience with full playback controls. It is designed to solve the perennial problem of choosing what to watch. Disney says it will make it easier to discover programming and keep watching.
Instead of having to choose titles one by one, Disney+ subscribers can select a playlist curated by genre, franchise, character, or mood. Seasonal playlists will also be available through the year, with themed and holiday collections for occasions like Halloween.
Each playlist features automatic shuffled playback, with full controls to pause, skip, rewind, or fast-forward at any time.
Playlists will be rolling out globally for all subscribers and can be found on the Disney+ homepage and across the service.
It makes Playlists an interesting hybrid between programming and on-demand viewing. The viewer still makes an initial choice, perhaps for Pixar, romantic comedies or The Simpsons, but no longer has to make a fresh decision at the end of every programme. Disney effectively takes responsibility for programming the rest of the viewing session.
The idea addresses an increasingly familiar problem with video on demand: the burden of choice. Research published by Gracenote last year found that online video viewers spent an average of 12 minutes looking for something to watch, while 46% agreed that it was becoming harder to find something. More than half of respondents in the United Kingdom and United States said the same. The apparently unlimited choice promised by online video can become a rather inefficient way of watching television.
There are sound commercial reasons for doing this now. As subscription video services mature, the challenge is increasingly not simply acquiring subscribers but keeping them engaged with libraries that they are already paying to access. Curated playlists can expose older catalogue material, create new viewing occasions around seasons or franchises, and increase the amount of time spent within the service without requiring new programming. They also give Disney an editorial lever alongside algorithmic recommendation, something particularly well suited to a company with unusually recognisable brands, characters and franchises.
Others are therefore likely to explore similar ideas, although not necessarily in exactly the same form. Streaming services have spent much of the past decade making television more selectable and personalised. They are now rediscovering that viewers do not always want to select or personalise everything. The result may not be a return to the television channel as we knew it, but a broader recognition that there is value in programming as well as programmes. The future of on-demand television may include rather more opportunities simply to turn it on and watch.