Disney+ To Add New Episodes Of British Soap “Coronation Street”

Last year, Disney signed a new licensing deal with British broadcaster ITV for a unique first-of-its-kind initiative to carry each other’s streaming services, in the form of a promotional selection, billed as a ‘Taste of ITVX’ and a ‘Taste of Disney+’ respectively.

This past week, Disney+ subscribers in the United Kingdom can now watch the latest episodes of the long-running British soap opera, “Coronation Street”.

The story of everyday life in a small and tightly-knit community is the core of the world’s longest-running primetime drama serial and the highest-rating programme in the UK.

New episodes are being added every Friday, in batches of five new episodes. However, this means that Disney+ is getting new episodes after a longer delay than when new episodes are added onto ITVX, YouTube or broadcast on the ITV linear channel.

It’s also worth noting that Disney+ only has access to the latest episodes, so subscribers don’t have access to the thousands of episodes that have been made since the 1960s.

Roger’s Take: While I think Disney getting access to one of the most popular shows in the UK could be a great thing, the fact that these episodes are almost a week old by the time they hit Disney+ and any British fan can watch these episodes for free on ITV and YouTube. So I’m not really sure who this deal is targeting, as any fans of the show will have likely already watched them.

From ITV’s point of view, I suppose putting the show out on as many platforms as possible can help with growing its audience, but to compete with ITVX and YouTube, Disney+ needs to get these new episodes at the same time.

What do you think of Disney+ getting episodes of “Coronation Street”? Let me know on social media!