Disney, the media giant, spent years pulling its films and shows off rival platforms to make Disney+, its owned streaming platform, more valuable. Now, it is reversing that exclusive strategy and putting some of those titles back on Netflix.

What happened? Disney has started licencing selected titles to Netflix in South Africa and other markets. All five Ice Age films and the first two seasons of Percy Jackson and the Olympians went live on Netflix on October 4, each with a three-month promotional window. The timing is deliberate:Percy Jackson season three premieres on Disney+ on November 20, while a new Ice Age film lands in cinemas in February 2027. The company said more titles are coming, including Will Trent, Tracker, Soul, Elio, and Raya and the Last Dragon.

Explain like I’m new here: When Disney launched Disney+ in 2019, it pulled much of its content away from Netflix and other platforms because exclusivity was part of the sales pitch. If viewers wanted Disney shows, they had to subscribe to Disney. But older films and earlier seasons eventually become less useful at attracting new subscribers.

Licencing them changes the maths. Disney can earn money from Netflix for content it has already paid to produce, while using Netflix’s much larger audience to introduce people to franchises whose newest instalments still sit on Disney+ or in cinemas. Disney+ currently has about 131.6 million global subscribers, according to Statista, compared to Netflix’s 325 million. In South Africa, the gap is wider; Netflix has 1.3 million subscribers, while Disney+ records just over 118,000.

Between the lines: Disney is not giving Netflix the crown jewels. The newer releases stay on its own platforms. Netflix gets enough of the back catalogue to create interest, while Disney keeps the part most likely to convert that interest into subscriptions or cinema tickets.

South Africa makes the strategy especially interesting. In May, Disney+ raised its Premium price from R159 ($1.22) to R179 ($1.38) monthly, while Showmax shut down in April. Disney has fewer local streaming rivals, but it still has to convince people that another monthly subscription is worth paying for.

Zoom out: The streaming wars are becoming less about locking every title behind one wall. A library only creates value if people watch it. Disney has realised that, sometimes, the best place to advertise Disney+ is Netflix.