Disney+ officially shifted its original series' release dates from Fridays to Wednesdays.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, this change will take effect in July and apply to all of the streamer's exclusive global series, starting with Monsters at Work. Disney already announced the release date change for the animated Monsters, Inc. show, which was originally slated to premiere on July 2 but will now begin streaming July 7.
Disney+'s updated original series release schedule also includes Turner & Hooch (July 16 to July 21), Behind the Attraction (July 16 to July 21), Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life (July 23 to July 28), Turning the Tables With Robin Roberts (July 30 to July 28), The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse batch two (July 30 to July 28) and Short Circuit Season 2 (July 30 to Aug. 4).
This announcement comes on the heels of Disney+ bumping Marvel's Loki from Fridays to Wednesdays, paving the way to the series becoming the most-watched premiere among second quarter 2021 streaming shows. The God of Mischief's small screen debut was also viewed by more households on its first day of release than the premiere episodes for its fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe series WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier -- a result that no doubt spurred Disney to adjust its streaming slate in the hopes of building on that success.
It's believed Loki's popularity can be at least partly attributed to its date change, given that audiences are more likely to stay in and watch TV during the week. What's more, because streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Apple TV+ tend to release their original series on Fridays, Disney+ shows faced greater competition there than on other days of the week. For the same reason, HBO Max and Peacock changed the standard release dates for their original series to Thursdays.
That said, Disney plans to continue premiering Disney+ Original movies on Fridays, rather than pitting them against the streamer's shows on Wednesdays. As such, Pixar's animated film Luca will begin streaming on Disney+ for no extra surcharge as planned on June 18.
Monsters at Work stars Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Bonnie Hunt, Ben Feldman, Mindy Kaling, Henry Winkler, Lucas Neff, Alanna Ubach, John Ratzenberger, Jennifer Tilly, Bob Peterson, Stephen Stanton and Aisha Tyler. The series premieres July 7 on Disney+.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter