Disney+ proving to be the most popular streaming video choice, seeing a big surge in subscribers, as some Americans prepare to spend long periods of time holed up in inside due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s to be expected that, with school closures across the country, the measured period revealed the biggest gain for family-friendly Disney+.
Between Saturday, March 14, 2020, and Monday, March 16, 2020, the number of Disney+ signups more than tripled compared to the same period from the week prior, according to data provided exclusively to Forbes from streaming analytics firm Antenna.
Coinciding with school closures across the country, the period saw the biggest gain for family-friendly Disney+ in 2020.
Netflix saw a more modest 47% increase in the number of subscriber additions, but it is still a solid boost for the streaming giant that already has 61 million paid memberships in the U.S.
Apple saw only a 10% rise in new subscribers compared to the week before, the lowest of any of the major streaming services.
MacDailyNews Take: This is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s also not much of a contest as many people will subscribe to multiple services. Subscribing to Disney+ does not preclude one from subscribing to Apple TV+, Netflix, etc.
Back in January, Apple TV+ was reported to already have 33.6 million after just launching in November 1, 2019. Of course, many of those received a free one-year subscription when buying a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, or iPod touch, but some of those will be hooked on Apple’s high-quality series and stick around! A 10% week-over-week subscriber increase is certainly nothing to sneeze at!
At its current price, with a deep library, and already at 23.2 million, Disney+ should move up this list very quickly and give Netflix a real run for their money. Apple TV+ is obviously performing well and Apple’s challenge will be to build out quality Apple Originals content rapidly so that when the time arrives, subscribers will want to renew. With series like “The Morning Show,” “For All Mankind,” “See” and many more already renewed for second seasons, viewers of those series are likely to renew easily, especially at just $4.99/month. — MacDailyNews, January 24, 2020