Disney announced Thursday that its streaming platform surpassed 94.9 million subscribers. The company announced the number as part of its earnings report for the December quarter. The company’s stock was up about 2% after hours on the news.
Disney+ exceeded the company’s initial subscriber goal of 60 million to 90 million by 2024 back in November, forcing it to reforecast. The company now expects Disney+ will have 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024.
Disney has seen rapid growth in subscribers since its launch in November 2019. On day one, the company had 10 million sign-ups and, by the end of the first quarter, the service had secured 26.5 million subscribers.
As the pandemic raged on, keeping consumers indoors, Disney+ jumped from 33.5 million subscribers in its second quarter to 57.5 million in its third.
In the fourth quarter, the company surpassed 73.7 million subscribers. Disney updated that figure during its December investor day, saying that the service had reached 86.6 million subscribers.
Disney does not break out the number of subscribers that have signed up for the service individually versus those that have arrived at the service through bundles or one-time promotions.
These strong subscriber numbers come as Disney has pushed heavily into streaming. In October, the company began restructuring its media and entertainment divisions to focus more on Disney+.
In December, Disney shared plans for around 100 film and television projects, around 80% are set to go directly to Disney+. This includes nearly a dozen Marvel series and more than 10 Star Wars shows.
Correction: An earlier version of this story and the headline misstated remarks from Christine McCarthy, the company’s chief financial officer, regarding Disney’s plans to disclose future subscriber numbers for Disney+. The company does in fact plan to provide subscriber number updates as of the end of each quarter going forward. It might not provide additional updates on subscriber numbers as of the dates of earnings calls.
