Disney signed up 10 million customers for its Disney+ streaming services within the first day of its broad international launch, the company said Wednesday. The company’s shares ended the day up 7 percent on the news.
Disney is offering a seven-day free trial, so likely not all of the sign-ups represent customers who will continue to pay for the service. Disney did not immediately respond to a question about whether the 10 million sign-up figure included presales. Verizon is also offering its customers a free year of Disney+ to customers on its Unlimited plan, which could further boost its subscriber numbers.
Even so, 10 million is a lot of people.
Here’s a breakdown of subscribers among other streaming services.
- Netflix (introduced streaming in 2007): 158 million subscribers, 60.6 million U.S. subscribers (as of October).
- Hulu, (began streaming in 2007): 28.5 million U.S. subscribers (as of November).
- HBO (founded in 1972, began streaming outside pay-TV bundle in 2015): 34 million U.S. subscribers, 8 million HBO Now subscribers (as of October)
- CBS All Access and Showtime (began streaming in 2014): 8 million subscribers (as of February)
- ESPN+ (began streaming in 2018): 3.5 million subscribers (as of November)
- DAZN (began streaming in 2016): More than 4 million global subscribers (as of May)
- Crunchyroll (began streaming in 2006): More than 2 million global subscribers (as of November)
- Amazon doesn’t disclose the number of Amazon Prime Video users. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimated there were 100 million Prime subscribers in January, but those subscribers get other benefits.
The quick takeaway: Disney signed up more customers in one day than HBO Now, CBS All Access + Showtime, ESPN+, DAZN and Crunchyroll have signed up in the entirety of their existences.
Disney forecasts Disney+ will have between 60 million and 90 million subscribers by 2024.