Disney Plus reached a new milestone, just over a year after its debut, hitting 86.8 million paid subscribers worldwide as of Dec. 2. That’s within shouting distance of the high end of the 90 million customers Disney originally expected to land — in year four of the streaming service’s life.
The new sub count is up 13.1 million from the last reported number of 73.7 million paid subscribers globally for Disney Plus as of Oct. 3. The service has become an even more critical pillar for Disney, especially as the COVID crisis has depressed box office and theme park revenue.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek made the announcement at the outset of its 2020 investor day event Thursday, saying the explosion of Disney Plus has exceeded the company’s “wildest expectations.” During the presentation, execs also announced that a huge swath of new originals will be coming to Disney Plus under the Star Wars, Marvel, Disney Animation and Pixar brands. Going forward, new originals are slated to premiere on the service every week.
As of Dec. 2, Disney overall had 137.1 million direct-to-consumer subscribers, which includes 38.8 million for Hulu (up from 36.6 million two months ago) and 11.5 million for ESPN Plus (vs. 10.3 million as of Oct. 3).
Of the 86.8 million Disney Plus subs, about 30% (or 24 million) are via Disney Plus Hotstar in India, according to Rebecca Campbell, chairman of Disney’s International Operations and Direct-to-Consumer segment. Last month Disney Plus launched in Latin America, and in 2021 the company expects to expand in 2021 into Eastern Europe, Korea and other countries.
In the first quarter of 2021, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus will be available to Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex more than 20 million subscribers directly on their set-tops, joining the operator’s existing distribution deal for Hulu, Disney Streaming Services president Michael Paull announced.
Separately, Disney is bowing a new bundle with Disney Plus, ESPN Plus and the ad-free version of Hulu for $18.99/month (vs. $12.99/month for a bundle with Hulu’s ad-supported tier). In addition, ESPN Plus content and subscriptions will be available directly through the Hulu app next year.
Flash back to Disney’s investor day in April 2019: The Mouse House had projected 60 million-90 million subscribers for Disney Plus by the end of its fiscal year 2024 (which ends around Sept. 30). Having already neared the high end of that previous guidance, Disney execs are expected to provide new forecasts for Disney Plus at the investor event.
The media conglomerate first launched Disney Plus in November 2019. The service quickly gained traction, signing up 10 million by the day after launch and zooming to 50 million subs in its first five months. The service offers a rich library of Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars movies as well as breakout original series “The Mandalorian” and other exclusive TV shows and movies including “Hamilton” and the live-action “Mulan” (which it sold in a 90-day early-access window for $30 a pop).
Besides coming to market with one of the world’s most powerful entertainment brands, a key part of Disney Plus’ appeal is its relatively low price point of $6.99/month (or $69.99/year), which is less than competing services like Netflix or HBO Max. That’s led analysts to speculate that the company will eventually seek to hike the price of the SVOD package.
Prior to Disney’s investor day, some Wall Street analysts had upped their forecasts for Disney Plus. This week Morgan Stanley revised estimates for Disney Plus to end FY 2024 with 135 million customers and FY ’25 with 145 million — generating revenue of nearly $11 billion in FY25.