Disney said on Wednesday local time that Disney+ had grown to 129.8 million subscribers as of Jan. 1 — up 37% from a year earlier, meaning Disney+ has re-accelerated growth after a fall slowdown. Disney added about 11.7 million new members in the three-month fiscal quarter, compared with about 2 million in the three months prior to that.
By comparison, Netflix, the world’s largest subscription video service, had 221.8 million global members at the end of last year. However, Netflix has amassed a massive user base in the more than a decade since it started its streaming service. Disney+ launched just over two years ago.
Like other young streaming services like HBO Max, Apple TV Plus, Peacock and Discovery Plus, Disney+ hopes its special mix of TV shows, movies and original programming will draw attention away from streaming like cable TV and Netflix. media stalwarts and draw it to its own vision of the future of television.
In addition, Disney disclosed that Hulu’s subscribers increased to 45.3 million and ESPN Plus membership to 21.3 million.