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The Disney Plus (Disney+) streaming service had its highly-anticipated launch on Tuesday, November 12. There was plenty of excitement leading up to the official launch of the service and its first day led to some incredible results, according to a report from Variety.
Disney said “consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our high expectations” on launch day which led to error messages and technical glitches for a number of users, and now we know why.
According to the report, Disney brought in a whopping 10 million subscribers on its opening day.
To put that into perspective, Disney had anticipated 8 million subscribers by the end of 2019, so the initial numbers are an overwhelming success.
From the report:
Longer term, Disney has projected that Disney Plus will have 60 million-90 million subscribers worldwide by 2024, with one-third of those in the U.S. The company has told Wall Street it expects to spend a little over $1 billion on original content for Disney Plus in its fiscal year 2020, ramping up to the $2.5 billion range by 2024.
Among the titles that were available on Disney+ on November 12 were the first-ever Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, the live-action Lady and the Tramp, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Noelle featuring Anna Kendrick, and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.
Disney+ is offering a free one-week trial for new subscribers. After the one-week trial expires, users will be charged a $6.99 monthly fee. There are also subscription packages available that include an ad-supported version of Hulu and ESPN+.
Disney+, Hulu, & ESPN+ Package Info
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During a stock market earnings call, which showed the entertainment conglomerate going down in quarter three (Q3), Disney CEO Bob Iger announced a bundle package of the company’s three streaming services: ESPN+, Hulu (which is ad-supported), and the upcoming Disney+ service all bundled for $12.99 per month. This fantastic bundle will be available immediately after the launch of Disney+, which scheduled for a November 12th release. If you didn’t know, Disney acquired the full operational take over of Hulu back in May.
Members of D23, Disney’s fan club, will be able to sign up for Disney+ earlier than non-members. Without the use of the bundle, Disney+ will cost $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. Hulu (again, with ads) is already available for $5.99 per month, while ESPN+ costs $4.99 per month.
The bundle of all three streaming services, which is $12.99 per month, is Disney’s attempt of getting into this highly competitive (and ever-growing) streaming industry. The company’s direct competition monthly cost goes for $12.99 per month for both Netflix and Amazon Video (which is included with your Amazon Prime subscription). The monthly cost of upcoming streaming services HBO Max and Apple TV Plus has not yet been announced. However, it has been reported that Warner Brothers Media plans to have HBO Max cost $16-$17 per month. From what we can tell so far is that Disney’s bundled streaming service programs, at $12.99 per month, seems to be the deal for your dollar.
