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By the end of fiscal 2024, Disney expects to
attract as many as 350 million global subscribers across all of
its streaming services, easily more than double the 137 million
it has today. Armed with fresh content, Disney will also raise
the price of Disney+ by $1 in the U.S. to $7.99 per month and by
2 euros in continental Europe to 8.99 euros ($10.92).
The aggressive push comes as Disney taps into a home
entertainment boom stoked by the global coronavirus pandemic,
with more people staying indoors and seeking out new shows.
Launched less than a year ago, Disney+ has already hit 86.8
million subscribers, Disney said, nearly reaching the upper end
of a goal its previously set for 2024.
"It is clear our strategy has already positioned us as a leading
global streaming service provider, and that is within just one
year of launching Disney+," Disney Chief Financial Officer
Christine McCarthy said.
Disney said it plans to release 10 new TV series each in the
Marvel and Star Wars franchises, including two spinoffs of "The
Mandalorian," over the next few years..
Another 15 live-action Disney Animation and Pixar shows and 15
Disney Animation and Pixar feature films will be available on
the Disney+ streaming service.
Customers should expect about 100 or more titles every year,
executives said in the presentation to investors.
The company announced new programming for Hulu and Star, a
general entertainment service it will launch overseas in
February. This will include content from the popular Kardashian
family, which this year announced it was ending its long-running
reality show on NBCUniversal's E! network..
Disney said it continues to expect Disney+ will reach
profitability in 2024, and shares rose 4% in after-hours trading
during the investor presentation.
CLOSING THE GAP
The U.S. entertainment industry has scrambled to match Netflix
this year. Disney, AT&T's WarnerMedia and Comcast Corp's
NBCUniversal have all restructured operations to focus on
streaming video services.
On Thursday, Disney set higher subscriber targets, fueled by
billions of dollars invested in new programming. The company
estimated it would spend between $14 billion to $16 billion on
content in fiscal 2024.
Disney+ is now expected to reach 230 million to 260 million
customers by 2024, up from a previous projection of 60 million
to 90 million.
The company said between 30% to 40% of the new subscriber
forecast came from Disney+ Hotstar in India.
Disney+ has been boosted by the popularity of "The Mandalorian"
TV series, a Star Wars spinoff featuring the character popularly
known as Baby Yoda. On Thursday, Disney said it planned two
further spinoff series, "The Rangers of the New Republic" and "Ahsoka."
Including upgraded expectations for Hulu and ESPN+, Disney said
it could reach 300 million to 350 million streaming subscribers
worldwide.
Those numbers would challenge Netflix, which pioneered streaming
in 2007 and had 195 million paying subscribers at the end of
October.
Shares of Netflix slipped 0.6% during Disney's presentation.
Hollywood is closely following Disney's plans a week after AT&T
Inc's Warner Bros upended the film business by saying it would
debut all 17 of its 2021 movies on its HBO Max streaming service
on the same day they hit theaters..
That left cinema chains including AMC Entertainment Holdings
Inc, Cineworld Group and Cinemark Holdings Inc disgruntled about
losing the window when they can screen movies exclusively in
theaters before productions hit streaming services.
Disney said on Thursday two films - "Pinocchio" and "Peter Pan &
Wendy" - would skip theaters and go straight to Disney+, but it
did not announce sweeping changes to its movie release strategy
as Warner Bros. did.
It also said "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins will also
direct the next Star Wars theatrical film, "Rogue Squadron,"
expected to arrive by the end of 2023.
($1 = 0.8230 euros)
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Kenneth Li, Cynthia
Osterman and Kenneth Maxwell)
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