Disney+ is now tipped to reach 25 million subscribers by the end of the first quarter. While the Disney streaming service only launched in November, it immediately attracted massive interest as well as a significant number of subscribers in a short space of time. Now analysts are revising their estimates up to reflect the sustained interest.
Prior to launch, it was already evident that Disney+ was going to be an interesting addition to the streaming service market considering it received almost 2 million subscription pre-orders. However, by the end of its first 24 hours as a live service, the number of subscribers jumped to 10 million, beating most expectations.
Now, the research and investment brokerage firm, Rosenblatt Securities, has increased its Disney+ first quarter estimate up from 21 million to 25 million. The rise in estimation has come on the back of what the firm says is the service continuing “to trend higher throughout our surveys.” Further adding to the power of Disney+, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Bernie McTernan notes that 29% of subscribers are understood to have unsubscribed from one streaming service in favor of Disney+. Equally as interesting for the market, 9% reported they had unsubscribed from Netflix.
Disney+ now faces staying power issues
Although it is clear Disney+ is doing well and continuously exceeding expectations, questions will remain over its long-term performance due to its age. This has made all the worse for Disney+ considering the high-level of promotional activity that’s been in play even before the service launched. For example, Verizon is giving wireless customers a year’s worth of free Disney+ access, while prior to the launch, Disney itself was offering subscribers a discounted rate if they prepaid for a longer subscription. In some cases, up to three years.
With such long-term promotions still in effect, it is likely to take some time before the true monthly paying subscriber number is determined in the same way Netflix, Hulu and other services are currently evaluated. Until then, the suggestions of a new service bounce and the promotional accounts will continue to linger over the ever-increasing subscriber number. However, with the service still having yet to launch in a number of markets worldwide, and boasting a popular catalog of titles, Disney+ is likely to continue to see significant subscriber growth in the meantime.
More details on how well Disney+ is currently doing is likely to come through next month when the company releases its next quarterly report.
Source: CNBC
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