Disney+ is getting around 1 million new subscribers per day
By Dan Selcke
Just a couple days after it dropped, Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+, already had around 10 million subscribers. The service has been out for a couple weeks now, and if the data is anything to go by, the novelty hasn’t worn off yet. In fact, according to data from research firm Apptopia, the service has been getting almost one million new subscribers every day.
A few caveats: Apptopia only reported on the Disney+ mobile app, which has been downloaded 15.5 million times. It doesn’t capture data on the number of people buying the service through the Disney+ website, which I imagine is a lot.
The point is that the service is doing stupid well, and the analysts agree. “This shows the company is gonna be a legit competitor to the likes of Netflix, despite the skeptics that continue to doubt the House of Mouse,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. “The pricing, the content and the bundling was just a pure genius strategy from [CEO Bob Iger] and Disney.”
At just $6.99 per month, the price of Disney+ is pretty competitive with other services, and it comes with a whole lotta content. The Mandalorian, the service’s tentpole original show, is getting a lot of press — Baby Yoda forever, and so on — but there’s lots of other stuff to watch too, both original and familiar. Need something epic to while waiting for the next episode of The Mandalorian? How about all the Marvel movies? Or you can relax with The Simpsons for a while, and dip back into Disney’s 80-year catalog of classic movies. There’s a lot to go around.
What’s more, apparently people are actually forking over money rather than riding the free seven-day trial. And the success of Disney+ is driving up downloads of Hulu and ESPN+, with which it comes in a bundle for $12.99. “I think everyone’s best bet is to bundle streaming services for the consumer so they don’t have to bundle it themselves,” said Joanna Piacenza, senior data editor at Morning Consult.
So Disney is crushing it, no surprise. Is that a good thing? The House of Mouse is looking more and more like an unstoppable force every day now, cornering a bigger and bigger section of the market. Do upcoming competitors like HBO Max even stand a chance? Stay tuned, and we’ll go into this brave, terrifying new world together.
Next. Scarlett Johansson teases solo Black Widow movie. dark
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels