The streaming service surpassed 100 million global subscribers in just 16 months, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting, held virtually on Tuesday.
“The huge success of Disney + … has inspired us to be even more ambitious and to significantly increase our investment in developing high quality content,” Chapek said in a statement.
It is a great achievement for Casa do Rato.
Disney, one of the largest and most established media companies, shifted its entire business to streaming – a change that helped keep the company afloat during a pandemic that affected various parts of its business, forcing it to close parks and resorts and delay big box office successes.
The 100 million subscriber mark also shakes Disney’s initial projections: the company told investors in 2019 that it expected Disney + to have 60 to 90 million global users in 2024.
This may have been a lesser sale for Disney (DIS), but it does not diminish the company’s surprising continuous growth, which has accelerated since it entered the market. Now the service is after its biggest rival, Netflix (NFLX), for about 100 million users.
And Chapek does not believe that growth will slow anytime soon.
The CEO noted on Tuesday that the company targets more than 100 new titles a year from its biggest brands, including Marvel Studios, Star Wars, Disney Animation and National Geographic.
“Our direct consumer business is the company’s top priority,” said Chapek, “and our robust content pipeline will continue to fuel its growth.”