Since launching in November 2019, Disney+’s subscriber growth has blown past expectations, according to its CEO Bob Chapek. The mouse house’s streaming service closed the fourth quarter of the year with a total of 86.8 million subscribers; During its late 2019 launch, Disney’s goal was to reach 60 to 90 million subscriptions by 2024. Mission accomplished. They will surpass that number in the next few months.
Despite its success, I am not in a rush to subscribe to Disney Plus. Beyond “The Mandalorian,” there isn’t much I’m willing to watch or rewatch, however, new content will be their main strategy in the next few years, especially with the China Virus likely continuing on for most of 2021 and millions of Americans unwilling to go to a movie theater. That’s why Disney is set to spend close to 9 billion dollars on new content between now and 2024.
With all that being said, Disney+ still has ways to catch up to streaming champions Netflix and Amazon Prime. Both of these streaming behemoths have mastered the game of digital content and have formidable forces behind their successes, not to mention close to double the number of subscribers Disney+ has. The streaming wars have just begun and the pandemic has only intensified the battle.
1) Netflix – 195 million subscribers
2) Amazon Prime — 150 million
3) Disney+ – 86 million
4) HULU – 38 million
5) Peacock — 22 million
6) YouTube Premium — 20 million
7) CBS All Access — 17 million
8) HBO Max — 12 million
9) ESPN Plus — 11 million
10) Apple TV — 10 million
The act of binge-watching was already a popular way for Americans to watch streaming content on platforms such as Netflix and Amazon, but a survey of 2,000 U.S. residents, commissioned by Tubi, found that binging severely increased during our COVID-19 lockdown world [via Study Finds].
During the epidemic’s peak, the average American was streaming 8 hours of content per day and finishing three TV shows per week. Yikes. Given the amount of free time we had, and, for millions out there, still do, these numbers shouldn’t be that surprising. No wonder Netflix has officially surpassed Disney’s stock and is now worth more than the mouse house.