Disney+ to reach 126 million subscribers globally

Thursday, February 6th, 2020
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Disney+ to reach 126 million subs globally

Following the results announcement on Tuesday that exceeded even Disney’s expectations, Digital TV Research has upgraded its forecasts for Disney+.

Disney+ will be the biggest SVOD winner over the next five years. Disney+ will add 105 million paying subscribers between end-2019 and 2025 to take its total to 126 million. Disney+ will reach 53% of Netflix’s subscriber total by 2025 – up from only 27% in 2020.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Much of this initial growth will come from the US, principally due to the attractive bundling of Disney+ with ESPN+ and Hulu. ESPN+ and Hulu are not yet available outside the US, but we still expect strong Disney+ take-up globally.”

Subscriber growth by global SVOD platform - Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max
Source: Digital TV Research

Five global platforms will have 553 million paying SVOD subscribers by 2025, adding 196 million subscribers between 2020 and 2025.
Netflix will gain 51 million subscribers between 2020 and 2025; revealing that there is still growth left for the most established platform. Netflix will command 44% of the 2025 total for the five platforms; down from 53% in 2020.

HBO Max will have 30 million paying subscribers by 2025 – if non-payers are included then this figure could be tripled. The same is true for Apple TV+, which Digital TV Research forecasts will have 26 million paying subscribers by 2025.

The SVOD sector received a boost in November 2019 with the roll-outs of Disney+ and Apple TV+. A further lift will come when HBO Max starts in May.