On Wednesday, Disney announced positive news about its growth and success in streaming. As of the quarter ending June 30th, the count of Disney+ subscribers had risen to 152.1 million, 5 million more than analysts had expected at the quarter’s end. After adding 46.2 million Hulu subscribers and 22.8 million ESPN+ subscribers, Disney’s streaming services have 221 million subscribers, which is just north of the 220 million subscribers claimed by Netflix. It seems that reports of the death of growth in streaming may have been greatly exaggerated.
Disney also announced that on December 8th it will introduce two levels of subscription for Disney+, beginning with a $7.99/month package that includes ads and a premium $10.99/month package without ads. Note that Disney+ subscribers currently pay $7.99/month for an ad-free service, so this new strategy amounts to a $3/month price hike for the current level of service.
Another major contributor to Disney’s positive financial report was strong demand at Disney’s theme parks, which have now fully recovered from the impact of COVID closures and limitations. Per capita spending by guests at Disney’s U.S.-based theme parks is running 40% higher than prior to the pandemic.
See Also: Disney+ soars to 152.1 million subscribers after adding 14.4 million in Q3 (TechCrunch)