Disney+ Surpasses 100 Million Subscribers In Under Two Years

A few years ago, Disney was still licensing its intellectual property to the likes of Netflix and Hulu for widespread distribution. As the market has evolved however, they quickly realized they’d be better off cutting out the middleman and distributing their work themselves. This led to the birth of Disney+, Disney’s new in-house streaming platform that houses both their classic content as well as new original content that gets released on a regular basis. This decision has paid off tremendously for the media giant with Disney+ surpassing 100 million subscribers this year, less than two years after the company launched the service for avid Disney fanatics and those alike.

Not only can you watch Disney classics like Cinderella and Pocahontas on Disney+, but a plethora of new content as well as Disney has utilized the service greatly in the wake of COVID-19. New series such as WandaVision and The Mandalorian, both spin-offs of classic Disney franchises that have kept even the most passionate fans pleased during quarantine. Their hard work has paid off fantastically for Disney in the long run, with reports releasing this week that Disney+ has surpassed 116 million paid subscribers this quarter. This represents a 100 percent increase from the year prior, and illuminates the outstanding growth Disney+ has seen in such a relatively short time frame.

Disney isn’t alone in this strategy either, with other services and networks launching in-house streaming platforms in recent years. Hulu has served as the in-house streaming platform for FOX for years, and now NBC has their own in the form of their Peacock platform. The growing trend is towards streaming, and Disney is at the forefront of that trend. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the media empire to surpass another milestone, but they certainly should not be bet against.