Since launching in November 2019, Disney Plus’ subscriber growth has blown past expectations.
The mouse house’s streaming service has announced a near 10 million jump in total subscribers since the last quarter, jumping from 86 million to now a total of 95 million subscribers as of Jan. 2, 2021. That’s up more than 8 million accounts in just one month.
During its late 2019 launch, Disney’s goal was to reach 60 to 90 million subscriptions by 2024. Mission accomplished. They have surpassed that number by a whopping three years in advance. In fact, given the service’s strong momentum, Disney also stated in today’s press release that they now expects 230 million to 260 million total paid subscribers by September 2024.
New content will be their main strategy in the next few years, especially with COVID-19 likely continuing on for most of 2021 and millions of Americans still not willing to go back to a movie theater. That’s why Disney is set to spend close to 9 billion dollars on new content between now and 2024. It’s not just “The Mandalorian,” they have a newly released hit with this past month’s premiered “WandaVision.”
With all that being said, Disney Plus 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 carry formidable forces behind their successes. The streaming wars have just begun and the pandemic has only intensified the battle.
1) Netflix – 203 million subscribers
2) Amazon Prime — 163 million
3) Disney+ – 95 million
4) HULU – 39 million
5) HBO Max — 38 million
6) Apple TV+ — 38 million
7) Peacock — 22 million
8) YouTube Premium — 20 million
9) CBS All Access — 17 million
10) ESPN Plus — 11 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.
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.