 Both Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus launched a few weeks ago. But despite both launching with roughly the same amount of new original TV shows, the only thing people can talk about is Baby Yoda. This is what was causing all the fuss. The Mandalorian is easily the most talked about show right now. Every week Disney releases a short and sweet jolt of Star Wars action directly to our TV sets. We can wake up early every Friday morning and catch up with the Mandalorian and his adorable sidekick Baby Yoda. Bone broth for the little one. Twitter is full of gifs, memes are running rampant, and Disney Plus stays in the weekly conversation about being the next thing you must absolutely watch. Apple TV Plus doesn't have this for any of its shows. The Morning Show fizzled out, no one is talking about C, and Dickinson's fandom is contained to a corner of Tumblr. Even Disney's other series aren't garnering too much attention, like The World According to Jeff Goldblum and High School Musical The Musical The Series. Yes, that is the actual title. The Mandalorian is an absolute win for Disney, as the streaming service catapults to the front of people's must-have subscriptions. It's also a prime example of Disney using Disney Plus to recreate event television in the streaming age, and sell you as many t-shirts as possible along the way. Of the 10 million people who signed up for Disney Plus on launch day, at least 2.1 million watched The Mandalorian. Research shows it's also the most in-demand show across the U.S. on any platform. There are entire podcasts dedicated to breaking down every episode, and recapping each moment is a full-time job for entertainment writers again. It's what critics call event television, a show that makes everything and everyone suddenly stop in order to watch. Whether that's Game of Thrones on Sunday nights, or calling in sick the day a new season of Stranger Things drops on Netflix. The big difference between Game of Thrones and Stranger Things was how people watched it, and it gave us a look at how streaming could differ from cable. Game of Thrones was a weekly event. This most recent season was a six-week affair that kept people together. That kept people talking about the show for nearly two months straight. Stranger Things happens all at once. Excitement tends to die down after two or three weeks, basically after people have binged it. Meanwhile, Game of Thrones was pulling in viewers weekly, and kept those viewers, boasting record numbers for its finale. For a long time, Stranger Things existed as an example of what event television could look like in the streaming age. The Mandalorian is a shake-up. Disney, echoing TV's more traditional formula, is releasing its Disney Plus episodes weekly. The company could release all of its episodes at once, but in doing so risks having The Mandalorian be another show that people binge and forget about a week later. Instead, and this is the important bit, Disney is using the show as a launchpad for other holiday sales. Think of Disney Plus as an add-on for the company. Former Amazon Studios analyst Matthew Ball noted that if companies actually wanted to make money, subscription streaming shouldn't even be your real business. Look at The Mandalorian. The show offers endless merchandising opportunities. Disney, a company whose films help propel theme park attractions and cruise lines, knows this game better than most studios. Right now, The Mandalorian is tantalizing enough that it keeps people interested, and more importantly, keeps them subscribed. Using Baby Yoda as incentive isn't something Disney's going to be able to do every single month going forward though. So what happens after The Mandalorian ends and Baby Yoda disappears from the weekly discourse? Kevin Mayer, head of Disney's Direct to Consumer Division, actually spoke about this exact issue at a recent conference. There's a lead time to create really high quality original programming. So we have we have it coming on in a cadence that we think is the right cadence. We do have more originals that are coming out. At D23, we announced three or four Marvel series that are going to start coming out in several months. Beginning in 2020, Disney will use its Marvel shows to play into its big franchise films. And then let's look at 2021. Marvel has four movies that will be released in theaters. Between those releases, there are also several Marvel shows that will air weekly on Disney+. Some of these shows will also correspond to the events happening in some of these movies being released in theaters. For example, WandaVision, a show that centers on Scarlet Witch and Vision from the Avengers series, is actually going to play into Doctor Strange 2 when those are released in 2021. Eventually, we're just going to exist in a nonstop weekly cycle of Disney marketing. What it means for us, the people who are subscribed to Disney+, or are thinking about it, is that Disney is going to want its streaming service to be at the center of weekly conversation. It might not be Baby Yoda in a few months, but there will be something that keeps us talking about Disney+, week after week and probably keeps us subscribed. Disney isn't the only company trying to keep you subscribed to their streaming service week after week. Companies like Apple are doing it too. To see how they're doing it, watch the first episode of the Virgo Streaming War series.
 Both Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus launched a few weeks ago.
 But despite both launching with roughly the same amount of new original TV shows,
 the only thing people can talk about is Baby Yoda.
 This is what was causing all the fuss.
 The Mandalorian is easily the most talked about show right now.
 Every week Disney releases a short and sweet jolt of Star Wars action directly to our TV sets.
 We can wake up early every Friday morning and catch up with the Mandalorian
 and his adorable sidekick Baby Yoda.
 Bone broth for the little one.
 Twitter is full of gifs, memes are running rampant,
 and Disney Plus stays in the weekly conversation about being the next thing you must absolutely watch.
 Apple TV Plus doesn't have this for any of its shows.
 The Morning Show fizzled out, no one is talking about C,
 and Dickinson's fandom is contained to a corner of Tumblr.
 Even Disney's other series aren't garnering too much attention,
 like The World According to Jeff Goldblum and High School Musical The Musical The Series.
 Yes, that is the actual title.
 The Mandalorian is an absolute win for Disney,
 as the streaming service catapults to the front of people's must-have subscriptions.
 It's also a prime example of Disney using Disney Plus
 to recreate event television in the streaming age,
 and sell you as many t-shirts as possible along the way.
 Of the 10 million people who signed up for Disney Plus on launch day,
 at least 2.1 million watched The Mandalorian.
 Research shows it's also the most in-demand show across the U.S. on any platform.
 There are entire podcasts dedicated to breaking down every episode,
 and recapping each moment is a full-time job for entertainment writers again.
 It's what critics call event television,
 a show that makes everything and everyone suddenly stop in order to watch.
 Whether that's Game of Thrones on Sunday nights,
 or calling in sick the day a new season of Stranger Things drops on Netflix.
 The big difference between Game of Thrones and Stranger Things was how people watched it,
 and it gave us a look at how streaming could differ from cable.
 Game of Thrones was a weekly event.
 This most recent season was a six-week affair that kept people together.
 That kept people talking about the show for nearly two months straight.
 Stranger Things happens all at once.
 Excitement tends to die down after two or three weeks,
 basically after people have binged it.
 Meanwhile, Game of Thrones was pulling in viewers weekly,
 and kept those viewers, boasting record numbers for its finale.
 For a long time, Stranger Things existed as an example
 of what event television could look like in the streaming age.
 The Mandalorian is a shake-up.
 Disney, echoing TV's more traditional formula,
 is releasing its Disney Plus episodes weekly.
 The company could release all of its episodes at once,
 but in doing so risks having The Mandalorian be another show
 that people binge and forget about a week later.
 Instead, and this is the important bit,
 Disney is using the show as a launchpad for other holiday sales.
 Think of Disney Plus as an add-on for the company.
 Former Amazon Studios analyst Matthew Ball noted that if companies
 actually wanted to make money,
 subscription streaming shouldn't even be your real business.
 Look at The Mandalorian.
 The show offers endless merchandising opportunities.
 Disney, a company whose films help propel theme park attractions
 and cruise lines, knows this game better than most studios.
 Right now, The Mandalorian is tantalizing enough
 that it keeps people interested,
 and more importantly, keeps them subscribed.
 Using Baby Yoda as incentive isn't something Disney's going to be able
 to do every single month going forward though.
 So what happens after The Mandalorian ends
 and Baby Yoda disappears from the weekly discourse?
 Kevin Mayer, head of Disney's Direct to Consumer Division,
 actually spoke about this exact issue at a recent conference.
 There's a lead time to create really high quality original programming.
 So we have we have it coming on in a cadence that we think is the right cadence.
 We do have more originals that are coming out.
 At D23, we announced three or four Marvel series
 that are going to start coming out in several months.
 Beginning in 2020, Disney will use its Marvel shows
 to play into its big franchise films.
 And then let's look at 2021.
 Marvel has four movies that will be released in theaters.
 Between those releases, there are also several Marvel shows
 that will air weekly on Disney+.
 Some of these shows will also correspond to the events happening
 in some of these movies being released in theaters.
 For example, WandaVision, a show that centers on Scarlet Witch and Vision
 from the Avengers series, is actually going to play into Doctor Strange 2
 when those are released in 2021.
 Eventually, we're just going to exist in a nonstop weekly cycle of Disney marketing.
 What it means for us, the people who are subscribed to Disney+,
 or are thinking about it, is that Disney is going to want its streaming service
 to be at the center of weekly conversation.
 It might not be Baby Yoda in a few months,
 but there will be something that keeps us talking about Disney+,
 week after week and probably keeps us subscribed.
 Disney isn't the only company trying to keep you subscribed
 to their streaming service week after week.
 Companies like Apple are doing it too.
 To see how they're doing it, watch the first episode of the Virgo Streaming War series.