Disney Plus vs Sky Cinema: How do the services match up?

Jonathan Victoria • 14 Sep 2023 Features

The costs may be the deciding factor, but content-wise it’s close…

Disney Plus vs Sky Cinema: How do the services match up?

Since being launched only back in late 2019, Disney Plus has quickly moved to become one of the premier streaming platforms with a brilliant catalogue of movies.

Sky Cinema has been around a lot longer, and while they don’t explicitly have their own streaming service, with the company looking to move their TV service to more streaming-based, Sky Stream and Sky Glass can essentially be seen as Sky’s champions.

So with these two having somewhat rivaling services, it’s only right to compare them to see who has the better movie content to offer.

Disney Plus vs Sky Cinema: Movies

Both platforms are continuously adding to and removing movies from their catalogue, attempting to always keep it fresh while inadvertently annoying people when their favourite movie disappears.

In terms of the number of movies, Sky Cinema holds a strong lead here. They boast over 1000 films compared to Disney Plus’ over 500 films.

Disney films

Of course, Disney Plus has its full catalogue of movies from the powerhouse company - from old-school classics such as the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs up to the new favourites like The Little Mermaid.

This is a massive positive for the service as people love Disney movies. I’m sure you know someone who makes the yearly pilgrimage to Disney Land or World or Universe or Galaxy (those last two may have been made up but you get the point).

Sky Cinema, on the other hand, does not have its own resorts or amusement parks or a massive studio complex on which to pump out an endless stream of movies and series.

However, they do have Disney movies. Not all of them, mind you, but they do have a strong range of their movies across their various channels - usually on the Sky Cinema Family, Animation or Greats channels.

So that’s a positive for Sky, as they have some of what Disney have. Then on top of that, they also have a brilliant range of many other movies.

New releases

The Sky Cinema Premiere channel shows the latest films they have brought onto the service, usually the newest films out that year.

Once again, this is another positive for Sky Cinema as they have more of the latest movies. Disney Plus don’t have this pleasure unless it is a Disney movie or one of their subsidiaries’ films (Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar etc.).

Franchises

But that is another point that needs to be brought up because the various other studios that Disney owns are fantastic.

They acquired Pixar back in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012, 21st Century Fox in 2017 and Searchlight in 2019.

All of those studios hold many of the best-grossing films of all time, producing multiple hit films every year.

Sky as a broadcaster is not the same as Disney, or more Walt Disney Studios, in that it is not a full-blown movie studio but instead a broadcaster who buys the rights to show films on their channels.

A big plus for Disney Plus there. Overall, in terms of the range of movies, Sky Cinema gets the nod. But for the Disney fanatics out there or anyone who enjoys Disney or any of its subsidiaries, Disney Plus is the better option to watch it all.

Disney Plus vs Sky Cinema: Originals

Disney Plus

For Disney Plus, owning properties such as Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm means that any new Marvel or Star Wars shows and movies that are released fall under the Disney Plus original categories.

This is obviously a major victory for them as it is some incredible content on offer, something which many if any other streaming services can’t offer.

Sky

Sky may not be able to boast the sizeable properties that Disney Plus has but they do hold their own with their original programming and movies.

A League of Their Own has been a long-running show on Sky, while Chernobyl was an award-winning Sky Original series from 2019.

Sky’s original catalogue is decent amongst the standard broadcasters, but up against the might of Disney Plus, there is no comparison.

Disney Plus vs Sky Cinema: Costs

Given that these two are largely different services, they come at very different price points.

Disney Plus is a streaming service that offers just that. It comes out to £7.99 a month or you can pay annually for £79.90, saving you £15.98 with this option.

Sky is very different. In order to access Sky Cinema, you need to have Sky TV. Sky TV can come with either Sky Glass, Stream or Sky Q. Once you’ve got one of these services, you can add Sky Cinema as an add-on.

This ultimately makes Sky a lot more expensive than Disney Plus, although you do get a lot more content. With Sky TV, not only will you have access to live television, but you’ll also get Sky Box Sets, which features 500 different shows, including HBO shows.

With that said Sky Cinema deals are your best bets for ensuring you get the best price per month on your Sky package. Be sure to check out what deals are currently available with us, or check out a select featured deal below.