Disney+ subscriber count continues rising as the entertainment conglomerate added an impressive 16 million subscribers in the June quarter for a total of 116 million paying customers.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- Disney+ now has 116 million subscribers
- It passed 100 million subscribers 3 months ago
- Disney+ is $7 per month or $80 annually
Disney+ subscriber count continues rising
Disney posted blowout fiscal third-quarter earnings with an impressive revenue of $17.02 billion. According to the Disney Investor Relations website, the company saw subscriber count for the Disney+ streaming service rising throughout the quarter, reaching 116 million paying customers as of July 3, 2021, beating the 114 million subscribers analysts were hoping for.
Major Disney subscriber stats for the June 2021 quarter:
- Disney+: 116 million subscribers
- ESPN+: 14.9 million subscribers
- Hulu: 42.8 million subscribers
That’s nearly 174 million subscriptions across Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu.
That’s quite an impressive figure for a streaming service that launched just 21 months ago in November 2019. To put it another way, the company has managed to add 16 million new subscribers since March 2021 when it reported passing a hundred-millionth subscriber.
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According to company executives, Disney+ is internally projected to hit 230 million paying customers by 2024. The company said earlier that it does not plan to introduce an ad-supported, cheaper streaming option for the time being after introducing a $1 price hike.
What about Apple TV+ numbers?
We don’t know how many people are paying $5 per month for Apple TV+ because Apple isn’t reporting any subscriber numbers. CEO Tim Cook, for example, said on a recent conference call discussing quarterly earnings that Apple TV+ is “going very well”, but refused to attach any solid number to that.
Apple TV+ launched with just a handful of shows so it’s still in the process of building a large enough library of movies and shows to retain current subscribers.
Disney+ seems unstoppable
The incredible proliferation of streaming services coupled with the ever-increasing competition doesn’t seem to have affected growth prospects for Disney+.
And as we said many times before, that’s no surprise at all given valued franchises that the entertainment powerhouse has under its wings, ranging from Star Wars and Marvel to Pixar, National Geographic and beyond. That’s quite an opportunity for Disney’s total addressable market is 1.1 billion households across the globe.
And with a Premier Access service, fans can stream major films like “Cruella” and “Black Window” the same day they premiere in theaters. And last but certainly not least, all that content is in addition to Disney’s rich library of classic animated films and movies.
→ How to gain free access to Apple TV+
At the same time, the company continues to experiment with the window of exclusivity for certain titles, like a Marvel hit, titled “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” that the company said would release in theaters exclusively for 45 days before reaching Disney+.