Disney is officially beating Netflix at their own game, as the media giant revealed on Wednesday that they’ve pushed past 221 million subscribers across their three streaming services — Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN — just nudging past Netflix's total.
Even with some of those subscribers paying less or being on bundled packages, that's an impressive stat that's grabbed headlines and contributed to Disney's share price jumping 10% in the last week.
A multi-trick pony
Disney's streaming prowess will really irk Netflix and other competitors because streaming remains only a tiny fraction of The Mouse's empire. Disney's "Direct-to-Consumer" business, which is where it counts its streaming revenues, brought in a little over $5bn in the latest quarter. Disney Parks — even just the US parks — brought in more than that, and that's a sector still recovering from the pandemic.
Even good old fashioned TV is big business. Disney's "Linear Networks", which include ABC, ESPN, National Geographic and the flagship Disney Channel, brought in more than $7bn in the last quarter.
Now that Disney's caught up in streaming, it's becoming increasingly apparent that their sprawling model is maybe the most desirable, even in 2022. Famous Disney characters are sold as toys and action figures, they're licensed into video games, put on t-shirts, stickers and books — and of course you can go and meet some of them in a Disney theme park. All of that means Disney is cashing in on its beloved IP in 4, 5 or 6 different ways — a machine that's very hard to replicate.
