We knew long before Disney+ ever launched that it was going to be a gigantic gamechanger for the business. Nobody has the sheer content muscle and recognized branding than Disney. The only question was how many millions would shell out subscriber fees to get their fix of Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney entertainment. Well, now we have a good idea, and it’s a lot.
Disney has announced that its streaming service has surpassed the 50 million subscriber milestone. This isn’t long after their previous quarterly report counted 27 million subscribers. So what accounts for the sudden boom? Well, there’s a worldwide expansion which has played a large role. But also there’s the coronavirus outbreak which has left families locked away indoors and in need of stuff to watch. Need to keep the kids busy for a while? Throw on Disney+, that’ll shut ’em up.
“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, Chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International. “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+.”
Disney+ still has a long way to go to compare to Netflix’s 167 million subscribers, but this is a very good start for a service that isn’t even a year old. It’s not easy launching a new streamer nowadays with so much competition out there. Just look at poor Quibi, which had only 300,000 downloads at launch, which is about 7.5% of what Disney+ had. Ouch.
