Back in November 2020 Disney+ launched in 33 countries / islands / regions / markets they referred to as “Latin America and Brazil.” During this launch South America, Central America, Mexico, and The Caribbean were pretty much blanketed with the Disney+ service with the exception of Cuba.
When they announced in December at Disney’s 2020 Investor Day that another streaming service would launch specifically for Latin American and Brazil known as “Star+,” people were miffed. Two services and two apps while everyone else has one (Disney+ Hotstar or Disney+ Star)? What nobody realized at the time was that roughly half the markets who received Disney+ during that Latin America launch would be left watching their friends enjoy Day 1 of Star+ with no clue when they would be able to experience the same joy.
Star+ Launch Left Out 15 Countries
Believe it or not, Disney has not communicated anything to people in these countries who are left confused and disappointed. If the intention is to do a second wave of launches it’s fine – what’s not acceptable is the silence or fact that they weren’t properly warned ahead of time. We spoke to a few people over the past few months who were upset when the Star+ “Coming Soon” page didn’t update in their territories and continued to present the “Star+ is not available in your region” message.
Today we see people on the outside looking in, let down by Disney.
Disney’s official FAQ page on StarPlus.com says they plan to launch in additional markets beyond the 18 which got it today. 33 – 18 = 15 markets still waiting with no news from Disney one when they get to experience the “Star” brand. There is also a source claiming Star+ will launch in Croatia in place of Disney+ and serve as the primary service there. Ignore that bull hockey, even if it’s being used as a source on Wikipedia. It’s wrong.
Why the Caribbean and some South American countries like Belize and Guyana were not included in this initial rollout despite being grouped with Latin America in the Disney+ launch has not been revealed.
Hopefully Disney announces another Star+ launch very soon so that the Caribbean and friends are able to enjoy the full experience this year.
Are you excited to stream Star+? Do you live in one of the countries that got left out?
Drew Ryan is a film, TV, and Disney geek. He has degrees in English, Student Personnel Administration, and Library & Information Science from Lawrence University, Concordia University-Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Interested in the minutia and licensing of streaming service content, he is always publishing lists, suggestions, and advocating for Disney’s missing library to be added to Disney+. Drew subscribes to Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Paramount+. You can find him waxing nostalgic over classic Disney Channel or geeking out over Marvel, CW shows, & Disney on Twitter.
