During its earnings report on Tuesday, Disney revealed that its new streaming service, Disney Plus, is closing in on the 30 million subscribers. The service apparently gained more than 26.5 million subscribers over the last quarter; an amazing feat given that it was only just launched in November.
The number of new Disney Plus subscribers for the quarter managed to exceed even the most optimistic analysts' expectations. The service was officially launched on November 12, entering the highly competitive video streaming market dominated by more established brands such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
The launch of the service was a major shift in focus for Disney's overall business. The company has managed to utilize its deep content vault along with competitive pricing to lure in new subscribers to its service. According to Disney, it expects to have between 60 million to 90 million global subscribers by 2025.
Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, mentioned during the company's earnings report that the number of subscribers had exceeded even their own expectations. Iger attributed the service's growing number of users to the company's incredible collection of brands and content. Apart from Disney Plus, Disney expects to see further growth in its media streaming business, which includes its other direct-consumer services such as ESPN Plus and Hulu.
For its third-quarter, Disney reported revenues of $20.8 billion, a 36 percent increase when compared to the same quarter a year earlier. Disney's various businesses all reported positive revenue growth. Its movie studio unit earned a total of $3.7 billion in revenue, a massive 100 percent increase when compared to the same period in the previous year. Its streaming business also experienced a more than 100 percent growth for the quarter, earning the company $3.9 billion in revenues.
Aside from revealing the number of new subscribers for its Disney Plus service, the company also revealed actually numbers for its other streaming services. For ESPN Plus, Disney revealed that the service gained around 7.6 million new subscribers for the quarter. For Hulu, the service gained a total of 30.7 million subscribers. Both services apparently received a bump in new subscribers thanks to Disney's bundle offerings, which included both services and Disney Plus for a subscription fee of just $12.99 per month.
The company's Disney Plus service features all of the firm's major brands such as its animated classics and Marvel films. Disney has also made strides in marketing its original series, gaining massive success with the release of its Star Wars galaxy-themed television series, The Mandalorian.
