In just three months after the launch of Disney +, the streaming platform has generated a total of 28.6 million subscribers.
Disclosed by Walt Disney’s chief executive Bob Iger on Tuesday, the streaming service had attained 26.5 million subscribers as at December last year and has organically added up to the 28.6 million figures in the latest subscriber data collected on Monday.
“The launch of Disney+ has been enormously successful, exceeding even our greatest expectations,” Iger said during a call with investors on Tuesday.
The attained figures measure up to the platform’s original target at the onset of its launch with $7-per-month service, which analysts anticipated would have between 20 million and 25 million subscribers.
Despite amassing 28.6 million subscribers in the first three quarters, Disney Plus falls way behind the streaming masters Netflix which currently has nearly 68 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada and 167 million subscribers worldwide. Meanwhile, Disney-owned Hulu has 30.7 million subscribers in the U.S. while ESPN + weighs with 7.6 million subscribers.
Subscription for the platform received an increase boost in numbers partly to presales that offered a discounted rate to subscribers who stay on for three years and a promotion that gave away Disney + for free to certain Verizon customers. Iger disclosed that around 50 percent of the initial signups came directly through Disney, while 20 percent came through the Verizon promotion.
Launched on November 12, 2019, Disney + is available only in countries, U.S., Canada, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico. Plans are underway to make the service available to as many countries as possible by end of this year’s Spring period.
