Disney+ has suddenly surged to more than 50 million subscribers. That’s almost twice as many as what the company reported just two months ago (February 4, 2020), when it said in its Q1 earnings that Disney+ reached 26.5 million subscribers during the quarter. The news positions the streamer to be within striking range of its initial subscriber projections just five months after it launched, and four years ahead of schedule!
At the time, former CEO Bob Iger said that about 20% of those subscribers came through a distribution partnership Disney has with Verizon. Disney+ is offered to some Verizon customers for free for a year.
Due to the news, Disney shares jumped as much as 7% in after-hours trading.
New Territories for Disney+
Disney’s new subscriber numbers follow a series of service rollouts in international territories, including the UK, Germany, Spain, India, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. Due to the French government’s concern that Disney+ would put too much strain on bandwidth, the service’s launch was delayed in France. However, the app is now available to customers in that region.
Due to people being homebound, they’re spending more time consuming digital programming. On March 31, Nielsen reported that overall streaming viewership – which included Netflix and Amazon Prime – jumped 22% during the week of March 16 versus the prior week.
“We’re truly humbled that Disney+ is resonating with millions around the globe, and believe this bodes well for our continued expansion throughout Western Europe and into Japan and all of Latin America later this year,” said Kevin Mayer, Disney’s head of direct-to-consumer. “Great storytelling inspires and uplifts, and we are in the fortunate position of being able to deliver a vast array of great entertainment rooted in joy and optimism on Disney+.”
Future Programming from Marvel and Lucasfilm
Disney CFO Christine McCarthy noted during the February investors call that Disney expects the majority of its growth going forward to come from international subscribers. With the premiere of upcoming series from Marvel and Lucasfilm, Disney is also expecting the number of domestic subscribers to increase. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is scheduled to premiere in August, WandaVision in December, and The Mandalorian is returning for a second season in October.
Now that people are social distancing at home and theaters remain closed indefinitely due to the global health crisis, Disney is looking at ways to schedule certain releases as exclusives to their streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+). Iger stated that it’s likely other titles will go to Disney+ early as well.
Give Your Family a Little Happy!
SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS – Our travel partners at Get Away Today are here to help you with your theme park shutdown concerns and rescheduling plans. We’ll get through this difficult time together. And when this challenge has passed, you’ll have earned a nice vacation. Lock in current low rates and give your family something to look forward to by putting a vacation on layaway today (for as little as $175 down) with Get Away Today- HERE
- Visit Get Away Today HERE
- Or fill out a request form and they’ll call you back: Vacation Information Request Form HERE
Let’s Hear From You
Has Disney+ helped occupy your time during this difficult time? Would you recommend Disney+ to others? Do you see streaming as the future of entertainment delivery? Let’s hear from you below!
For more tips on what to watch and information about Disney+, please check out our dedicated Disney+ information page:
