Disney brought in nearly $60 billion in revenue in 2018. Industry experts expect that number to surge to $69.7 billion this year; an almost unheard of surge. Its stock price is soaring (up 8% at time of writing). The company will own an eye-popping 40% of the box office (probably higher) in 2019. Now? The House of Mouse set their sights on the Wonderful World of Streaming and crushed it on their first day.
In the first 24 hours after its official Nov. 12 launch, the Disney Plus mobile app for iOS and Android was downloaded 3.2 million times, according to research firm Apptopia. About 89% of the downloads were in the U.S., with 9% in Canada and 2% in the Netherlands (the initial three countries where Disney Plus is available). Disney blamed an unexpected avalanche of demand for problems Disney Plus customers experienced Tuesday, which included the inability for users to even log in. Industry experts say the problems likely stemmed from the Disney Plus authentication systems becoming overloaded.
One of the many Disney films available to people.
Per Apptopia’s estimates, Disney Plus users worldwide collectively spent 1.3 million hours streaming the service in the first 24 hours — more than the total viewing through Amazon Prime Video and Roku apps in the three countries where Disney Plus is available. Disney on Wednesday announced that Disney Plus had more than 10 million sign-ups in the first day after the launch.
This includes people who signed up for the free seven day trial so the number might drop if they don’t continue their service. Also, the data covers only mobile apps — not connected-TV apps or direct access on Disney Plus’ website. So it’s possible the number of Day One users for Disney Plus is actually higher than reported. Netflix users streamed around 6 million hours of video over the same time period in the same three countries, according to the research company.
