The Walt Disney Company announced Thursday that it has more than 73.7 million paying subscribers on Disney Plus as of Oct. 3, Variety reports.
- Disney made the announcement at a fourth quarter earning report.
The company has focused its effort on streaming now that the coronavirus pandemic has led to theme park closures for Disneyland and other locations. Walt Disney World, which is still open, operates with a reduced capacity.
Disney said back in early August that it had 60.5 million subscribers, according to CNET. That announcement came shortly after “Hamilton” debuted on the streaming service.
Key quote:
- Disney CEO Bob Chapek said: “Even with the disruption caused by COVID-19, we’ve been able to effectively manage our businesses while also taking bold, deliberate steps to position our company for greater long-term growth. The real bright spot has been our direct-to-consumer business, which is key to the future of our company, and on this anniversary of the launch of Disney+ we’re pleased to report that, as of the end of the fourth quarter, the service had more than 73 million paid subscribers – far surpassing our expectations in just its first year.”
How it stacks up
Disney Plus released these numbers on Nov. 12 — the one year anniversary of the streaming service’s debut. The company signed up about 10 million accounts during its debut week.
To compare, Netflix has 195 million subscribers. The company has been around since 1997 but it added streaming in 2007, giving it 13 years to wrack up about double the amount that Disney has pulled in one year.