Disney has announced that their streaming platform, Disney+, has garnered over 50 million paid subscribers worldwide, with approximately eight million of them coming from their launch in India.
Disney+ rolled out its service in India last week in collaboration with Hotstar, one of the most popular streaming platforms in the country. But one of the most important things about these numbers is that the eight million subscribers for Disney+ Hotstar didn’t sign up after April 3, 2020, when the service was launched in India.
A chunk of the eight million subscribers added to Disney+’s total are existing Hotstar Premium and Hotstar VIP subscribers who have been shifted to the Disney+ Hotstar Premium and Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscriptions, respectively.
So, it’s by the way of collaborating with an existing service — as the company has done before in the case of Verizon in USA — that they’ve got a significant bump in their numbers as it’s highly unlikely — and probably unprecedented, if true — that eight million people from India signed up for the service after Disney+ was thrown into the mix.
The Disney+ Hotstar subscription is relatively costlier at INR 1499 per year for Premium (with an option to pay INR 299 monthly) and INR 399 per year for VIP.
“We’re truly humbled that Disney+ is resonating with millions around the globe, and believe this bodes well for our continued expansion throughout Western Europe and into Japan and all of Latin America later this year,” said Kevin Mayer, Chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International. “Great storytelling inspires and uplifts, and we are in the fortunate position of being able to deliver a vast array of great entertainment rooted in joy and optimism on Disney+.”
In the last two weeks, Disney also launched its streaming platform in Austria. France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and UK.
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