Disney+ is off to a smashing start in its quest to dominate the streaming wars.
After launching on November 12, the Mickey Mouse company revealed this morning that it has already surpassed 10 million sign-ups. That makes the “millions” Apple TV+ pulled in during its first week look pretty weak.
Demand for Disney+ exceeded even Disney’s highest expectations. Technical problems plagued the service on launch day as customers flooded servers to watch new shows like The Mandolorian, or old classics from Disney’s huge vault of content. Disney shares rose more than 3% on the news.
Disney+ costs $7 per month and offers a free seven-day trial just like Apple TV+, which costs $5. Apple TV+ suffers from a huge lack of content compared to Disney+. Apple’s streaming service only offers four prestige shows right now: The Morning Show, Dickinson, See and For All Mankind. The first three of those shows only have four episodes currently available. All 10 of Dickinson‘s 30-minute episodes are out.
Armed with movies from Pixar, Marvel, the Star Wars galaxy, National Geographic and Fox, Disney+ is ready to play catch up to Netflix’s 158.3 million global subscribers. Practically everyone on my social media channels was talking about Disney+ on launch day, whether it was moms with young kids or guys in their mid-20s stoked to binge on Star Wars and old X-Men cartoons. The same enthusiasm was nowhere to be found when Apple TV+ launched.
Still, Disney+ has a ton of room to grow. The service is currently only available in the United States, Canada and The Netherlands. It launches in Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico on November 19. Most of Europe won’t get the service until March 2020.
