It would have been foolish to bet against Disney+ when it launched last November. But the streaming site’s success has exceeded even the Mouse House’s own projections. Disney has announced it has already hit its five-year goal for subscribers. And it only took them nine months to get there.
The Walt Disney Company’s third quarter fiscal report for 2020 (which we first heard about at Deadline) revealed that Disney+’s total subscriptions stands at 57.5 million. That was the streaming site’s five-year projection, and an increase of three million subscribers since the start of May. That’s still well behind the industry’s standard bearer Netflix, which has 193 million paid subscribers. But Disney+ has already vaulted to the number two spot ahead of Amazon Prime or Hulu.
Part of Disney+’s market appeal was the bundle option it offered that also included Hulu and ESPN+. And a rising Disney tide lifts all boats. Hulu subscriptions now stand 35.5 million, and ESPN+ is at 8.5 million, a threefold increase over last year.
Disney+
Disney+’s numbers are also helped by the relatively low cost of the subscription. Users can sign up for $6.99 a month, or $69.99 for the year. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are both $12.99.
Also, in addition to its insanely deep library (which includes much of the MCU and classic Disney animated films) it’s also the only place for the millions of Star Wars fans around the world to watch the galaxy far, far away’s first ever live-action series, the Emmy-nominated The Mandalorian. And this summer the service also got a boost when it premiered the stage-recording of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton.
Disney+
The streaming numbers were a bright spot in an otherwise negative report. As Deadline also notes, Disney’s overall revenue was down 42% from the year before. There was an almost $3.5 billion loss from the closure of its theme parks due to COVID-19. Films like Mulan and Black Widow, likely box office smashes, have also been delayed.
If consumers can’t go outside anytime soon though, Disney+ could hit its new five-year projections—between 60 and 90 million subscribers by 2024—a lot sooner.
Featured Image: Disney
