Disney today said that Disney+, the company’s long-awaited streaming video service that launched on Tuesday, already has 10 million sign-ups.
While it’s still too early to tell how many of those sign-ups will continue paying after their free trials end next week, it shows that Disney+ is off to a fast start.
It also helps explain some of the technical troubles the service had yesterday. Early visitors to the app were often greeted with error messages explaining there were issues connecting to the Disney+ service. Disney said the problems were due to more traffic than expected on day one.
The demand for #DisneyPlus has exceeded our highest expectations. We are so pleased you’re excited to watch all your favorites and are working quickly to resolve any current issues. We appreciate your patience.
— Disney+ (@disneyplus) November 12, 2019
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Disney also said that moving forward, there are no plans to release Disney+ subscriber data outside of The Walt Disney Company’s quarterly earnings calls.
The 10 million figure already puts Disney+ ahead of where some analysts predicted the service would be by the end of 2019. MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson pointed to the company’s recent agreement with Verizon, which will have the wireless provider give a year of Disney+ to its unlimited wireless and broadband subscribers, along with Disney’s own heavy promotion, as catalysts for the service’s explosive growth.
“As a result of these offers, we estimate that Disney+ will now hit 8 million worldwide subscribers out of the gate in CY 2019 and 18 million worldwide subscribers by the end of FY 2020,” wrote Nathanson in a research note.
Disney+ has also been leading the app download charts. According to Apptopia, the service has already been downloaded more than 3.2 million times.
Disney+ is selling for $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. The service is also available for $12.99 per month bundled together with ESPN+ and Hulu.