The subscriber growth for Disney+ has apparently slowed significantly during 2021. Disney last reported surpassing 103.6 million subscribers in March, which was short of Bloomberg’s expectations. According to internal data obtained by The Information , the streaming service hit 110 million subscribers this month.
There are currently 38 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, which is only 1 million more than six months ago. In the same time frame, 12 million new subscribers have joined from India. A Disney spokesperson stated this analysis contained “factual inaccuracies and does not reflect the performance of the service” but did not provide further data to The Information.
India is now Disney+’s biggest market, but the streaming service only costs 45 cents per month in India compared to the $7.99 per month in the United States. The Information attributes the growth’s plateau partially to the $1 price rise in March.
They also see a gap in original content compared to other streaming services. While Disney+ has had a few big hits, particularly with The Mandalorian and this year’s Marvel shows, it is mostly old movies and TV shows. Films originally meant to release solely in theaters don’t seem to be making the splash Disney expected either.
Last year, Disney predicted that Disney+ would reach between 230 million and 260 million subscribers by September 2024. This goal is possible, but the service would need to maintain its current growth since launching in November 2019.
Source: Fast Company and The Information
Thanks for the very interesting article, just what I’ve been wondering about this whole time. I don’t have Disney+ and I don’t understand why people get Disney+. I mean, I watch the Disney Channel all the time, but that’s just me. I don’t know of any other adult that does that. And everybody that I know, if they want to see an old Disney movie like Cinderella or something, they would just buy the DVD or already own it. $8 a month doesn’t sound like much, but it’s still $100 a year. My son got Disney+ for the Mandalorian, but he got out when the series ended.
So only about a third of US households have Disney+. Even that is far more than I expected. My biggest puzzlement about Disney+ is how is it making money. It seems to me that $8 a month doesn’t even cover expenses, and there are so much competition out there with Netflix and Hulu and whatever else. And I don’t know what they are doing with the 45 cents from India.
I think Disney+ is a failure. It’s better if Disney just turn Disney+ into a simple purchasing venue, like you can buy each show or movie you want at individual prices, and then you own it forever, like Amazon Prime. That would make far more sense.
i think youre in the minority when it comes to dvd vs streaming. younger generations prefer streaming over dvds
also, you believing disney+ is a failure doesn’t mean anything. They are making around 800million a year in sub profits. Its a revenue generator….
I would have to agree with May. Disney’s plan was to shut down all of the Disney Channels. Well it didnt work that way Disney channel is doing far better than expected here in the US. Disney did away with Radio Disney to focus on Disney+
and Disney closed a lot of Disney Stores to focus on online shopping which that will fall flat.
I knew this was true because if you notice Disney has started very aggressively promoting cheaper bundles (they ran an aggressive promo for the D+,Hulu,-ESPN bundle) and worked out some corporate promotions with other companies to give away the service for free for a few months. This is what companies do when they are worried they won’t hit an exciting subscriber number and they need to goose it.
Get Woke, Go Broke
Given Disney’s ties with the CCP (filming Mulan near concentration camps) and highly “woke” agenda, I am not surprised people have had enough with their nonsense and decided to put their streaming dollars somewhere else, myself included. Get woke, go broke.
It’s the current, ongoing, trend the last 5 or more years. More money for everything related to Disney. From park ticket prices, current food prices at Disney (for less food or value). Prices have exceeded the normal 4 person family. I fell Walt’s dream is dying unless you make $120,000 or more per year.
you dont make 120k per year?