Remember last year, when all those deals and discounts galore were being offered to everyone who signed up for Disney+ early, in advance of the streamer’s November 12 launch? Well, those promotions paid off and then some for Disney, which on Tuesday afternoon reported its latest quarterly earnings results — the first since the company launched its Netflix rival about three months ago, and which revealed a staggering number that immediately impressed many analysts:
Since its launch, Disney+ has managed to amass some 26.5 million subscribers, on the strength of everything from its aggressive promotion and discounts to its library of content. The latter of which includes everything from classic
It also didn’t hurt that new exclusive Disney+ content like The Mandalorian — the first live-action Star Wars TV series, with its Baby Yoda character that became a viral sensation — drove a significant amount of social media chatter and brought major attention to the brand. Disney’s earnings report on Tuesday showed that Disney+ continued signing up new subscribers at a rapid clip, following the 10 million that the service had already racked up by the end of its launch day.
Disney+ “will never be what I’ll call a pure volume play,” Disney CEO Bob Iger says. “It will be about high quality branded content.” Here’s what he has to say about streaming competition. https://t.co/WVYiRLGqxk pic.twitter.com/N6U7JsDJNT
— CNBC (@CNBC) February 4, 2020
For comparison, Netflix’s most recent numbers revealed that it has about 60 million or so subscribers in the US, which puts Disney+ already within striking distance of the halfway point to that target.
Most of Netflix’s growth right now is happening outside of the US, which is a good time to remind everyone that Disney+ hasn’t even completed its full rollout yet. The new streamer is set to launch in the UK, Ireland, and Germany on March 24. Currently, the few places it’s available internationally include the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand.
In related news, a live-action/CGI remake of Disney’s animated Lilo & Stitch film is reportedly coming exclusively to Disney+ soon. For now, the name of the game seems to be for Disney+ to offer at least one marquee show each quarter to help juice and keep subscribers. Next up will be to see if Disney+ can maintain this momentum, especially with Season One of The Mandalorian — with its weekly episode releases — now finished, while some of its other shows are either still to come or facing delays.
