Disney+ is one of the newest in the world of OTT platforms, especially when you compare it to the powerhouses like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. But despite this fact, Disney+ is not at all far behind when it comes to comparison. In fact, it is quickly catching up to Netflix right now. Disney+ recently revealed its 3rd quarterly reports and the results are amazing, to say the least, and this is all thanks to the fans and solid content that are part of Disney+ right now.
To get started, Disney+ added 12.4 million paid subscribers this quarter, taking the total to a whopping 116 million. Wall Street predicted the subscribers would be coming in at somewhere around 112.8 million, but Disney+ outdid itself and attained 3.2 million subscribers more than expected. After the lockdown induced pandemic, which saw a boom in the subscriber count, things started to slow down and were slower than expected after 2020, but the 3rd quarter brought Disney back into the game and also ended up making it one of the top streaming platforms right now, just behind Netflix.
The 3rd quarter was in fact very much important and to see an increase, rather than a decline has surprised the experts. The 3rd quarter results included the price hike in subscription rates and many wondered that it might become the cause of declining subscribers but Disney+ successfully turned it around. Disney now in total has 173.7 million active subscriptions, which includes 116 million from Disney+, 42.8 million from Hulu, and 14.9 million from ESPN+. One can now clearly see that it is just 35.5 million subscribers away from topping Netflix.
The major chunks of revenue for Disney came in with the opening of theme parks and amusement parks. Other than that, movies like “Cruella”, “Black Widow”, “Luca” and “Disney’s Jungle Cruise” were major contributors to the streaming platform. Including all these, Marvel’s Loki too was one of the biggest contributors. But one major drawback might be seen in the next quarter specifically for Disney+, as Disney and Marvel recently revealed that Marvel’s upcoming “Shang-Chi and The Legend Of The Ten Rings”, will not have a Disney+ premiere like it has been earlier with Cruella and Black Widow. Marvel and Disney will be releasing the movie directly in theatres, rather than premiering it on Disney+.
Fans have been majorly disappointed by this, since the Covid cases are rising once again and watching it in the theatres might turn out to be risky, but looks like Disney has already made up its mind. Also, many speculated that this might be due to the lawsuit filed by Scarlett Johannson and Disney didn’t want to take a chance with another movie of such great potential. Since major contributions were made by the Marvel and Disney movies last quarter, it would be interesting to see how the next quarter unfolds, if Disney sticks to theatrical release decisions.
One of the other biggest contributors of subscribers to Disney+ has been Disney+ Hotstar since its inception. Hotstar is prominently active in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand which adds a major bulk to the subscription count. Hotstar in this quarter was responsible for 40% of its total 116 million subscribers, which means around 46.4 million subscribers came straight out of the Asian market. This clearly shows how the Asian market has been influencing Disney+ sales. Given this success, Hotstar will now launch in South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in November and in October, Disney+’s “Star” brand will see its launch in Japan.
Even though the plans for introducing Disney+ in major parts of Europe and the Middle East have been pushed to 2022, the officials think introducing Disney+ Hotstar in these major Asian markets will provide a big boost to its subscriber count in the latter part of the year. It is a known fact that the Asian market has a dedicated space for everything superhero, Star Wars, and more and Disney has always respected this love, hence the new launches will definitely be one big boost to the entire streaming platform.
With even more Marvel, Disney, HBO, Pixar, Star Wars shows lined up for the later part of the year and the new market launches, it would be interesting to see how the next quarter will pan out to be for Disney+ altogether.
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