Ever since Disney’s video streaming service, Disney+, launched, it’s been gaining a ridiculous number of subscribers. And it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
Today, during Disney’s annual shareholders meeting (via The Verge), the company confirmed that Disney+ now has over 100 million subscribers. This means that the company has reached this particular milestone less than a year and a half after launching. That’s been a trend up to this point. In December of last year, the service had over 86 million subscribers.
And then, in February of this year, it was confirmed by the company had reached 94.9 million subscribers. Now, just under a month later, Disney’s confirming it has surpassed 100 million paying customers.
Unfortunately, what propelled the subscriber numbers so much over a short period of time isn’t known. Disney didn’t provide clear details in that regard. It’s possible that the release of Raya and the Last Dragon could have had something to do with that, but that film only released just last week. (It also comes attached with a $20 additional fee thanks to Disney’s Premier Access.)
The success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe entry WandaVision probably has something to do with it, too. Plus, the company has an extensive back catalog of content to work with. Plus, other new films like the family-friendly Flora & Ulysses, among others. Plus, another MCU series is on the way, with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier set to premiere later this month.
And now that things are obviously going so well, Disney is not slowing down. CEO Bob Chapek confirmed that the company is essentially doubling down on new things to watch across its various properties, including Star Wars, animation, Marvel, and more.
Per Disney’s press release it issued today:
The enormous success of Disney+ —which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers—has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content,” Mr. Chapek said. “In fact, we set a target of 100+ new titles per year, and this includes Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Our direct-to-consumer business is the Company’s top priority, and our robust pipeline of content will continue to fuel its growth.
In any event, whatever Disney is doing is working. If you’ll recall, the company expected that, by the end of 2024, it would have between 60 to 90 million paying subscribers. Now, Disney’s new projections for 2024? Anywhere between 230 million and 260 million subscribers.
Meanwhile, we don’t know anything about Apple TV+’s subscribers. We do know that the company has landed some pretty successful weekends and releases recently, though.
Disney+ is also raising the price for its plan.