Disney+ Sees Huge Subscriber Numbers

Shares of Disney led gains on Wednesday as the stock shot 7.3% higher following comments from Disney management that put first day numbers of subscribers for the Disney+ streaming service north of 10 million.

That has already outpaced estimates of 8 million subscribers for the service by the end of the year, and has some wondering if Disney might not reach 20 million subscribers before the close of 2019.

By contrast, rival Hulu has 28 million subscribers, while Netflix has 60 million U.S. subscribers and 90 million international subscribers. It took Netflix over 10 years to reach the 90 million subscriber mark.

One positive for Disney+ is its price point, which at $6.99 a month is almost half the $12.99 price tag of Netflix. Another positive is the huge catalog of classic and proprietary content Disney owns. That by itself is enough to entice many Disney, Star Wars, and Marval fans to sign up for the Disney+ service, even if they are already Netflix of Hulu subscribers.

Keep in mind that Disney is offering a 7-day free trial, so not all 10 million subscribers will become paying customers. Verizon is also offering one year of free Disney+, even for existing customers, which no doubt has boosted subscriber numbers.

Even with these promotional deals, Disney has achieved a huge feat in passing 10 million subscribers within the first 24 hours of its service, when competitors have taken years to build up their subscriber base. Plus Disney+ has only been launched in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands so far.