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During its earnings report covering the fourth quarter of 2020, Disney today announced that it has surpassed 94.9 million subscribers (via CNBC).

disney-ios.jpg

When Disney+ launched, Disney set a goal of hitting 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024, a milestone that it reached before the end of 2020. Disney has since re-forecasted and now expects to have 230 to 260 million subscribers by 2024.

With that kind of subscriber growth, Disney+ will likely surpass Netflix. Netflix in January said that it had more than 200 million subscribers worldwide.

Disney+ launched at the same time as Apple TV+, but Disney has seen incredibly rapid growth, reaching 10 million subscribers on the first day and 50 million subscribers at the five month mark. In December, Disney+ was at 86.8 million subscribers, so it has gained eight million subscribers in a month.

Apple does not provide Apple TV+ subscriber numbers so there's no direct comparison to make, but if Apple had Disney+ numbers, Apple executives likely would have mentioned it. Apple TV+ has not been able to compete with Disney+ because of Disney's established catalog of content along with popular Star Wars and Marvel original shows.

Apple has been ramping up its selection of movies and TV shows, but it will be years before the company has a catalog that can compete with most other streaming services.

Article Link: Disney+ Now Has 95 Million Subscribers
 

McKodiak

macrumors 6502
Oct 20, 2014
335
1,009
I paid through Apple One subscription and then apple gave me a credit for Apple TV+ recently.
 

sviato

macrumors 68020
Oct 27, 2010
2,425
377
HR 9038 A
AppleTV+ is confusing. I got the free trial when I bought an iPhone 12 and finding shows to watch has been challenging. I'll find something that looks interesting and it says I need to rent or buy it. I don't see why there isn't an option to just see what you can actually watch with the subscription without renting or buying.
 

iFan

macrumors regular
Jan 3, 2007
248
723
How many are actually paying though?
All of them. Just not always directly.

For the most recent quarter quarter, average revenue per Disney+ user was $4.03, down from $5.56 a year ago due to increase in lower paying subs in India.

As they launch in new countries over the next few months, their average will likely stay lower, partially offset by increase in pricing in higher-paying markets.

This is a runaway success for DIS, but not surprising given their content library. These numbers don't even include Hulu or ESPN+, which are also growing nicely and losing less money over time.

Apple will have to spend a LOT more to find similar growth levels. Even HBO, with a lot more content than Apple+, is only growing at 20%.
 

contacos

macrumors 601
Nov 11, 2020
4,617
17,907
Mexico City living in Berlin
AppleTV+ is confusing. I got the free trial when I bought an iPhone 12 and finding shows to watch has been challenging. I'll find something that looks interesting and it says I need to rent or buy it. I don't see why there isn't an option to just see what you can actually watch with the subscription without renting or buying.

yes its really stupid cuz apple just throws everything into one pot. The easiest way is to look for the „TV+ Channel“
 

McKodiak

macrumors 6502
Oct 20, 2014
335
1,009
AppleTV+ is confusing. I got the free trial when I bought an iPhone 12 and finding shows to watch has been challenging. I'll find something that looks interesting and it says I need to rent or buy it. I don't see why there isn't an option to just see what you can actually watch with the subscription without renting or buying.
It can be confusing. They provide the Apple TV app which is supposed to be the one location to see shows across different streaming services but embedded in the Apple TV app is Apple TV+ streaming service.
 

sw1tcher

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
5,288
17,880
How many are actually paying though?
Per their earnings report @ https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/app/uploads/2021/02/q1-fy21-earnings.pdf

As of Jan. 2, 2021, they have 94.9 million paying subscribers for Disney+

The following table presents the number of paid subscribers(1) (in millions) for Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu as of:

Disney+ : 94.9 million
ESPN+ : 21.1 million
Hulu : 39.4 million (35.4 million SVOD only; 4.0 million Live TV + SVOD)

(1) A subscriber for which we recognized subscription revenue. A subscriber ceases to be a paid subscriber as of their effective cancellation date or as a result of a failed payment method. A subscription bundle is considered a paid subscriber for each service included in the bundle. Subscribers include those who receive the service through wholesale arrangements in which we receive a fee for the distribution of Disney+ to each subscriber to an existing content distribution tier. When we aggregate the total number of paid subscribers across our direct-to-consumer services, whether acquired individually, through a wholesale arrangement or via the bundle, we refer to them as paid subscriptions.
 

Frozonecold

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2005
308
82
NorCal
Once I had finished The Mandalorian, which was nowhere near as good as I had heard, I couldn't find anything else to watch. So I cancelled.
Same, I'm surprised by how many people love Disney+ over Netflix. But maybe that will change as they create more shows. Apparently Disney+ is doing 3 spin-off series' from the Mandalorian.
 
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Stella

macrumors G3
Apr 21, 2003
8,837
6,334
Canada
How many are actually paying though?
I thought Disney stopped giving away all free trials, so I'd imagine there's signficiantly far more paying customers than not. Even if you do get it free from other services such as Verizon, Disney are still getting income from that company, i.e., Verizon.

So, as a percentage, there's more paying customers than Apple's offerings, who give subscriptions away on purchase of hardware, and extend trial periods.
 
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Dimwhit

macrumors 68020
Apr 10, 2007
2,068
297
I think Disney is nailed it as far as streaming services. They've good good Star Wars and Marvel shows already, with many more coming. Plus, their back catalog of animation for kids alone is worth the price. I would have killed for this service when my kids were little.
 
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ericwn

macrumors G4
Apr 24, 2016
11,817
10,396
AppleTV+ is confusing. I got the free trial when I bought an iPhone 12 and finding shows to watch has been challenging. I'll find something that looks interesting and it says I need to rent or buy it. I don't see why there isn't an option to just see what you can actually watch with the subscription without renting or buying.

They luckily did just that and have a tab labelled tv+ or Apple originals now. Prior to that it was really annoying!
 
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