Disney+ Garners Over 73M Paid Subscribers; Consumers Willing To Visit Disney Parks

The Walt Disney Company reported on Thursday (Nov. 12) as part of its Q4 results that Disney+ had over 73 million paid subscribers at the conclusion of the quarter.

“The response from consumers has been overwhelmingly positive. Everywhere that we’ve launched Disney+, audiences have embraced the wide array of high-quality entertainment, both original and library content,” CEO Bob Chapek said in a call with analysts.

Since the company rolled out Disney+ last year, it has launched the service in over 20 nations. Disney also plans to introduce the service to Latin America, with the inclusion of Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile on Tuesday (Nov. 17).

In terms of the company’s other streaming services, Disney reported 10.3 million paid subscribers for ESPN+. It reported 32.5 million paid subscribers for Hulu SVOD Only and 4.1 million paid subscribers for Hulu Live TV + SVOD.

The following table presents the number of paid subscribers(1) (in millions) for Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu

Theme Parks

Chapek said the company has proven over many months that it can operate its parks responsibly following stringently enforced guidelines provided by healthcare experts.

Disney successfully reopened its parks in Orlando, Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong. It had to close Disneyland Paris after reopening the property due to President Macron’s lockdown order in response to a rise in Europe’s coronavirus cases.

“People have shown a willingness to visit our parks, which I believe is a testament to the fact that they feel confident in the measures we’ve taken, and we are very encouraged by the positive news earlier this week on the progress of potential vaccines,” Chapek said.

Chapek noted that the company was very disappointed that California continues to keep Disneyland closed.

As for its overall results, The Walt Disney Co. reported 20 cents in diluted loss per share on $14.71 million in revenue for the quarter. The results exceeded analyst estimates of a loss of 71 cents per share on $14.2 billion in revenue.

Chapek said that the company is “finding ways to not only operate our businesses effectively but also take the necessary bold steps for our future growth.”

The company’s board of directors announced that it would not declare a semi-annual cash dividend for the latter half of fiscal 2020 “in light of the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and the Company’s decision to prioritize investment in its direct-to-consumer initiatives.”

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