Disney takes the gold medal after change of leadership on the podium of the Streaming Warsthe hard fight between streaming platforms for audience, measured in this case in number of subscribers.
Disney surpasses 221 million subscribers adding its three streaming platforms: Disney+, Hulu and ESPN
For a long time now Netflix, self-promoted as “the first global TV network” has been stable around 200 million subscribers, being currently at 220.7 million subscribers, after losing one million during the first quarter of 2021, which has forced the platform led by Reed Hastings to reformulate its pricing plans to counteract that loss of subscribers.
A circumstance that has colluded with the growth experienced by Disney, which has just reached 221 million subscribers by adding together its various platforms:
-Disney+: 152.1 million subscribers
-Hulu: 46.2 million subscribers
-ESPN: 22.8 million subscribers
Although both Hulu and ESPN continue to gain new subscribers (around half a million each) the one that accounts for the largest growth is Disney+, with 14.4 million new subscribers. The latter platform, moreover, has a greater international presence, which explains both its higher number of subscribers and its higher growth.
Disney’s leadership comes at a time when subscription price increases are being announced, moving in the United States (pending translation of amounts into local currencies) from the current $7.99 to $10.99 per month.
The peculiarity of this price change is that the $10.99 subscription will be renamed Disney+ Premium and underneath it there will be another modality that will be called Disney+ Basic which, priced at $7.99 per month, will offer access to the same content but including advertising, with up to 4 minutes of commercials for every hour of content.
