# Disney+ hits 26.5 million subscribers in its first 3 months



## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

You can pick your news source. Here's why it's worth the headlines.

Analysts estimated Disney+ would attract 20 million subscribers by the end of 2020. Instead they hit 26.5 million in their rollout in the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico. They will begin to roll out more widely this spring including much of Europe where indications are it will be successful.

Also Hulu gained nearly 8 million subscribers last year reaching 30.4 million and ESPN+ went from 1.4 million at the end of December 2018 to 6.6 million at the end of 2019. This is mostly because of the $12.99-a-month bundle offered in the U.S.

Hulu is, of course, Disney's counter to churn at Disney+. Old folks like me with no kids in the household see little attractive about Disney+. And as folks binge through new Disney+ shows Disney expects churn. So we will all begin to see some pretty significant effort on the part of Disney to keep Hulu growing.

This is pretty impressive news as Disney+ is already at 74 percent of Netflix’s total domestic subscriber base.


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## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

Hulu may have jumped a bit because they ran a special around Christmas for Hulu, base version, for $1.99 per month for 12 months. I signed up for it at that time instead of getting the Disney+ bundle because I didn't really want ESPN+.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

b4pjoe said:


> Hulu may have jumped a bit because they ran a special around Christmas for Hulu, base version, for $1.99 per month for 12 months. I signed up for it at that time instead of getting the Disney+ bundle because I didn't really want ESPN+.


Wow. Because I was already a no-ads subscriber I did not see that. To get ABC, Fox, and NBC current broadcast shows plus back episodes and some cable shows with most of FX coming soon all for $1.99 a month even with ads is a remarkable deal. The broadcast channels probably cost most cable companies at least $8/mo per subscriber.


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## crkeehn (Apr 23, 2002)

How many of the subscribers are paying subscribers. Thanks to Verizon, I will not be paying for Disney until November of 2020.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

crkeehn said:


> How many of the subscribers are paying subscribers. Thanks to Verizon, I will not be paying for Disney until November of 2020.


That's an important fact that we need to be aware of. The churn that will result from those who don't want to incur the cost of a subscription will be lost in the international expansion numbers for most news stories a year from now.


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## wmb (Dec 18, 2008)

crkeehn said:


> How many of the subscribers are paying subscribers. Thanks to Verizon, I will not be paying for Disney until November of 2020.


Verizon has more than 50 million mobile customers that qualify for the deal. 
Verizon Will Give One Year of Disney Plus for Free to All Unlimited Wireless Customers!

I would also doubt that Disney is free to Verizon. The variety article says the terms of the deal between Disney and Verizon weren't disclosed.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

I signed up for Disney+ Monday so we could watch Hamilton for $7 instead of $700 in person. We haven't done so yet but discovered a bunch of great National Geographic shows, all without commercials. We'll probably watch some Disney movies too, starting with Mary Poppins. Looks promising and we will keep this service for at least a few months. Picture quality is excellent on our 55-inch TCL Roku TV.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

It is the only place to see Hamilton at any price. Broadway is closed until 2021 ... off-broadway might be possible late in the year. Probably the only other way to watch will be the DVD release.


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