US survey: Disney+ already has 24m streaming subscribers

by Mark Tyson on 20 December 2019, 13:11

Tags: Disney, Netflix

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HEXUS reported upon the announcement of the impending launch of Disney+ back in Spring. It finally went live in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands last month. The service covers streaming content from brands such as Disney (of course), Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic - as well as a helping of Fox content.

Disney+ was expected to do well, with an estimated 20m or more subscribers targeted worldwide for 2020. However, based upon research undertaken by Wall Street analysts Cowen & Co., Disney+ has already surpassed that milestone figure in the US alone.

A census-weighted survey of 2,500 US consumers last month pointed at a 21 per cent take-up of the service amongst US households. Variety reports that this suggests that there will be a 24 million Disney+ user base in the US by now.

The above is marks an impressive start, if true. Of course with a population whose eye-balls are already saturated by on-demand entertainment options such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Fortnite - the growth of Disney+ means that some will bail out of other options. It is noted that one of the big reasons for Disney+'s impressive start is a Verizon promotion in the US providing it for free for a year for customers of the mobile network. It is estimated the Verizon 'freeloaders' make up about a third of the US users, about 8 million of them. Another interesting estimate is that there is an 80 per cent overlap in users with both Disney+ and Netflix subscriptions.

Cowen & Co reckons Disney+'s success will have cost Netflix an additional million subscribers in Q4 2019. That million expands Netflix's churn figure to 5.1m in the US expected during the quarter. Netflix is currently reassuring investors that it has a long track record of dominance in the streaming wars and while US adoption may have slowed it has seen strong growth and upside potential in Asia-Pacific countries.

The UK's Disney+ landing page

In the US, Disney+ costs $6.99 per month and $69.99 per year. There is a $1 discount on the monthly fee if you have a subscription to Hulu and ESPN+. The service will launch in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain on 31st March 2020. Pricing and content will vary by territory.



HEXUS Forums :: 16 Comments

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If there is a free trial when it lands here I'll probably pick it up to add to my collection, already have Youtube, Prime Video, Netflix etc..
A staggered global launch was definitely a good idea, people definitely haven't found alternative methods of seeing exclusives like The Mandalorian ahead of its official UK launch.
Yeah I still don't get that, someone somewhere has gone yeah, that's a good idea, it amazes me how all of these big US-based companies will cry about how the internet has killed XYZ yet decades later they still haven't caught up.

I've been saying for ages that to really cut down on piracy what they need to do is have an LQ/SD version of stuff streamable where you get adverts in it, but can't save/download stuff, so they are still making money from that side of things, and then a paid subscription model where you get it in 4K or whatever resolution maybe a pre-roll advert, and can download it to your device(s) and everything is online and available at the same time globally…

Obviously there will be people that'll still download stuff, but that's never going to stop.
'[GSV
Trig;4160231']Yeah I still don't get that, someone somewhere has gone yeah, that's a good idea, it amazes me how all of these big US-based companies will cry about how the internet has killed XYZ yet decades later they still haven't caught up.

I've been saying for ages that to really cut down on piracy what they need to do is have an LQ/SD version of stuff streamable where you get adverts in it, but can't save/download stuff, so they are still making money from that side of things, and then a paid subscription model where you get it in 4K or whatever resolution maybe a pre-roll advert, and can download it to your device(s) and everything is online and available at the same time globally…

Obviously there will be people that'll still download stuff, but that's never going to stop.

That, with no exaggeration, would stop all my piracy. I don't care about adverts as long as I'm not paying for the service i'm using. I don't expect top quality service if i'm getting something for free so I don't mind. Right now anything i cant get that is a one time purchase or doesn't hold value I won't buy. Except the monthly cinema pass I have, game pass is an exception as it is cheap as hell and i get more use out of that than any watch once tv programme
I suspect it would for a lot of people, the casual downloaders that don't want to fall behind on their favourite shows or have to avoid things on the internet for fear of seeing spoilers.
If you didn't have the need for a VM setup with a VPN on it and your choice of torrent software would save people time effort when all they have to do is just scroll a bit and hit play a few ads here or there would be a small price to pay..

IMHO of course