Very quickly, Disney has perhaps become the dominant force in the world of streaming video. About six months after the company announced it had more than 100 million streaming video subscribers, Disney revealed that it has almost that number on Disney + alone. In today’s earnings report covering the last quarter of 2020, Disney announced that it now has 94.9 million Disney + subscribers, 39.4 million Hulu subscribers and 12.1 million ESPN + subscribers. Overall, Disney reaches 146 million streaming video subscribers in all, with Disney + a force to be reckoned with.
As Disney + was just released in December 2019, comparing the number of subscribers year after year is not very useful, but the fact that it has reached almost 100 million users in a year is extremely impressive. However, average monthly revenue per subscriber has dropped significantly, from $ 5.56 a year ago to just $ 4.04 – this is largely for Disney + Hotstar, the name of the service in India and Indonesia. In these countries, the Disney + monthly charge is significantly lower than elsewhere. We bet that Disney is fine with this exchange.
While Disney + is by far the company’s largest streaming service, Hulu and ESPN + were also highlights. The 12.1 million ESPN + subscribers represent a growth of 83 percent year on year. And Hulu also grew 30% year on year, to 39.4 million subscribers. Hulu’s live TV product represents just 4 million of those users, though – but that is still a 25% increase from a year ago. Even though live TV subscribers aren’t growing as fast as those on demand, it’s still not exactly dead.
Video streaming was a bright spot for Disney in a difficult year in which it was hit by the closure of companies like theme parks and cruises thanks to COVID-19. Theatrical film offerings have also been hit, but at least the company has many loyal fans who stay at home watching everything to help increase the number of video subscribers.