Disney has announced a huge change to its release schedule for the upcoming Star Wars series, “Ahsoka”.  Originally, the show was going to debut on Wednesday, 23rd August 2023, with a double-episode premiere.

However, Disney is pulling that release date forward, where it will now release at 6 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday, 22nd August 2023.  New episodes will now be released at this time moving forward, rather than the typical release schedule of Midnight PT/3 AM East Coast.   This is a big departure from any previous major release, since Disney+ usually always updates at the same time.  Disney has done slightly earlier releases for some titles, like the premiere of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and other international shows often get released at a different time than everything else, but this is a major shift for a showcase title.

Ever since Disney+ initially launched, the core update has happened daily at midnight, which has always annoyed fans in the United States, where episodes would drop in the middle of the night (though this works out ok for subscribers in Australia, Asia and Europe!).    The main reason these updates would happen overnight, was to make sure the heavy load of lots of subscribers trying to activate a new show all at once, causing a crash in the system, wouldn’t happen and to spread out the viewers more evenly.

This new timeslot on Tuesday evening, will now mean a huge amount of subscribers can tune in the evening to watch the show, which will no doubt help boost the viewing figures in the United States.  This follows how many other streaming services like HBO Max, which was only available in the US, would release shows like “House Of The Dragon”.

It’s unknown if this move for “Ahsoka” will also impact on other major releases in the future, but if it’s a success, it’s likely to happen.

What do you think of “Ahsoka” launching at an earlier time?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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