Disney+ experienced a significant slowdown in subscriber growth during the quarter ending October 2nd, adding only 2M new subscribers which were 7M fewer than analysts had expected. This announcement comes on the heels of last week’s quarterly report from Netflix showing similar sluggishness in the U.S. where it added only 70,000 new subscribers during the most recent three-month period. Netflix now has an active subscriber base of 214M worldwide whereas the total for Disney+ stands at 118M.
Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek gave his perspective on these disappointing results by saying that company’s management was in it “for the long term, not quarter to quarter,” and the service “is still on track” to reach its goal of having 230M-260M global subscribers by 2025. In the near term, the company is taking steps to boost growth with events such as Disney+ Day, held on the two-year anniversary of launching the new service. This special event included new series premieres and a special introductory rate of $1.99 for the first month of service for new subscribers.
Meanwhile, Disney’s in-person entertainment offerings are seeing new life as pandemic restrictions are easing. Disney’s theme parks business is surging again as well as the box office from theatrical runs of cases such as BLACK WIDOW, JUNGLE CRUISE and SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS.