28.6m Disney+ subscribers
Here’s the timeline. Launch November 12. Day one, 10 million subscribers. Seven weeks pass and at year end Disney+ is up to 26.5 million subscribers. Five more weeks pass and on the earnings call Bob Iger announces 28.6 million subscribers. Now here’s the phenomena that’s changing viewing habits. Star Wars, for decades a theatrical draw for its special effects and big screen appeal is now a priority for TV as opposed to theatrical releases. The tide turned.
The NPD Take:
- Disney took the vast majority of its video IP and infused it into Disney+ making uptake a simple decision for consumers. That coupled with ultra-low pricing demonstrated that the core goal for the company has been to scale an audience in short order. Given that, the massive early subscriber counts are far from a surprise.
- It’s about what’s next and to that end Disney showcased its slate of upcoming programming indicating that it is their intention to invest to retain and grow this audience.
7.6m ESPN+ subscribers
With 7.6 million subscribers, ESPN+ more than doubled its base since Q3, when it had 3.5 million. There are a couple of key drivers. Speaking to investors on February 4th, Iger indicated that the service gained an additional 500,000 new subscribers for McGregor’s return to the octagon. Bundling is the other key driver. The drop in ARPU is a clear indicator of the successful $12.99 bundle with Hulu and Disney+. While revenue per user might be down a bit, the audience growth is massive.
The NPD Take:
- As with Disney+, the early days are about audience growth. There will be plenty of time to tinker with pricing and packaging as Netflix did after it amassed a large and highly engaged audience. Just expect that transition to be faster for the Mouse.
- It’s only a matter of time before sports rights free up and ESPN can begin to shift its audience from cable to ESPN+ streaming.
3.2m Hulu Live TV subscribers
Now, #1, Hulu with Live TV has surpassed Sling TV as the market leading vMVPD. That is barring a report of massive subscriber growth from Sling TV later this month. The overall Hulu base (on-demand and live TV) reached 30.4 million during Q4 quarter. As the company pulls operations into the Disney DTC organization there is already a strategy in place to leverage assets from the FOX acquisition, such as content from premier cabler FX.
The NPD Take:
- Expect another wave of significant growth the moment Disney packages Hulu Live TV in a bundle with another one of their DTC streaming options.
- As networks such as Disney, FX, NBC, HBO and many more focus their content production on streaming services, what will that leave for their linear TV networks; Honeymooners reruns?