Disney+ is Now in 25 Percent of U.S. Broadband Homes

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Just six months since its launch, Disney+ has made it into the top five SVOD services in the U.S. with take-up in 25 percent of U.S. broadband homes, according to Parks Associates.

Disney sits behind Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, with another new entrant, Apple TV+, rounding out the top five with adoption in 10 percent of broadband homes.

The Parks Associates survey also found that nearly three in ten broadband households said their use of online video services has increased because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

There is a significant overlap in Disney+ and Netflix subs—81 percent of Disney+ subs have a Netflix membership, as do 72 percent of Apple TV+ subscribers.

In addition, almost half of Disney+ subscribers canceled another OTT service over the last 12 months, as did roughly two-thirds of Apple TV+ subscribers.

“Disney took a broad-based content approach to its Disney+ service, including its Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, Nat Geo, and 20th Century Fox properties to make it broadly appealing, far beyond its traditional audience of families with young children,” said Steve Nason, research director at Parks Associates. “Very few Disney+ subscribers subscribe only to this service, so households are not picking up Disney in place of another service but adding to their home’s other OTT services. We will see, as household budgets tighten up, if Disney+ has done enough to become an ‘essential service’ for its subscribers.”

Disney+ also benefited from offering a bundle with Hulu and ESPN+ and a Verizon partnership in which unlimited mobile subscribers and new internet subscribers received a free year of the service.

Nason added, “Apple TV+ promoted a small stable of original programming and is now looking to supplement that with more third-party content. Apple TV+’s growth is due largely to a free year of service for those who recently purchased an Apple device, which brings the firm’s brand loyalists into the service. Apple TV+ does have a higher percentage of exclusive non-Netflix subscribers, plus a higher number of households that recently canceled another OTT service, so it appears Apple does have a core group of dedicated subscribers. Apple’s challenge is to expand beyond that group.”