Disney+ briefly stops working as it announces major new content drop

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Disney+ has been hit by a brief outage on the day it announced a huge new content drop.

The streaming platform got stuck loading and users were unable to see TV shows or films, or watch them.

Disney+ was launched at the end of 2019, offering primarily the company’s own shows through streaming.

While its content library has received plaudits from the launch onwards, it had some technical issues from the beginning. Users found themselves unable to get online on launch day, though it has worked largely as normal ever since.

During Thursday’s outage, users were able to log in and choose a profile as normal. But attempting to access the library just showed a swirling blue light.

The outage came as Disney+ announced its “biggest content drop ever” with the launch of a new channel called Star, which comes to the UK on 23 February. That will bring with it hundreds of new shows and films, including Lost and 24.

The platform that powers Disney+ is run by Disney Streaming Services, a subsidiary of the company that originated with MLB Advanced Media, created to show the league’s baseball games. Its technology also serves as the foundation of ESPN+ and the NHL app.