Content, as Sumner Redstone famously said, is king.
But in the new world of streaming, not all content is equal. Theatrical films draw great media attention, but original content seems most effective when it comes to attracting and keeping subscribers.
Original streaming content’s high value was evident at Disney’s four-hour Investor Day presentation Thursday, focusing in-depth on what Disney+ streaming audiences will see in the coming months. Among these were 3 Disney/Lucasfilm projects (THE MANDALORIAN, ANDOR & THE BAD BATCH) and 5 Disney/Marvel projects (LOKI, THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER, MS. MARVEL, WANDAVISION & WHAT IF?).
Theatrical films are high-profile one-time events, but some subscribers will cancel right after seeing them. Original series content keeps subscribers engaged for seasons as they binge-view or return regularly to catch up. In particular, the STAR WARS driven MANDALORIAN series (pictured) is an amazing asset for Disney+, which now has 86.8M subscribers and is still growing.
Understandably, Disney stock soared Friday, closing at $175.72 as Wall Street applauded the company’s phenomenal success with Disney+.