Disney shared today that the worldwide Disney+ subscriber count is now 60.5 million, reaching their 5-year target in less than a year.
What’s Happening:
- During today’s third quarter earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek shared an update on the number of Disney+ subscribers.
- The streaming service reached 60.5 million subscribers worldwide as of yesterday.
- The service was at 57.7 million on June 27th, meaning additions like Hamilton and Black is King brought in nearly 3 million additional subscribers in July.
- Disney+ has exceeded their projections in every major market the service has launched in so far.
- Disney+ Hotstar will launch in Indonesia on September 5.
- Bob Chapek also reconfirmed that the second season of The Mandalorian will debut in October while calling out The One and Only Ivan and The Right Stuff as upcoming highlights.
- Chapek stated that new content brings in new Disney+ subscribers while library content helps retain them.
- Going forward, Disney plans to invest more in Disney+ content than initially planned including "tentpole content."
- Disney spent more on their direct-to-consumer business than investors expected, but their subscriber growth helps explain why.
- As a result of the streaming bundle, Disney saw growth in subscribers for both ESPN+ and Hulu.
- ESPN+ has 8.5 million subs, up from 2.4 million last year.
- Hulu has 35.5 million up from 27.9 million last year.
What They’re Saying:
- Bob Chapek: "Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, we've continued to build on the incredible success of Disney+ as we grow our global direct-to-consumer businesses. The global reach of our full portfolio of direct-to-consumer services now exceeds an astounding 100 million paid subscriptions — a significant milestone and a reaffirmation of our DTC strategy, which we view as key to the future growth of our company."
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