Early Streaming Glitches Highlight Disney’s Tech Challenges

Disney’s revelation on Wednesday that it signed up 10 million subscribers for Disney Plus on its first day was as strong an indication as any that it will quickly become a formidable player in the streaming space—and also gave some explanation for its early technical woes.

A few hours after launch on Tuesday morning, customers began complaining online that the app wasn’t loading properly, or had issues around signup or streaming videos. Some of these problems were quickly resolved and may have been a result of so many people trying to use the app at the same time. By Wednesday, a separate problem arose: some viewers complained on Twitter that the aspect ratios were not correct for some of the shows, which means the picture is stretched out or some of the original content is obscured from view. The various glitches were a reminder that while Disney has invested heavily in programming to compete with Netflix, the older streaming service has had a decade to hone its expertise on the technology side to avoid technical glitches.