Walt Disney has reported better subscription numbers for Disney+ than forecasted for the recent quarter, a report from The Wall Street Journal said Wednesday (May 11).
This is contrast to the slowdown that hurt rival Netflix.
Disney reported 7.9 million new Disney+ subscribers, which put its total at 137.7 million subscribers, an improvement from 129.8 million from the previous quarter and up 33% from a year ago.
FactSet analysts said the company was likely to add 5.2 million new subscribers.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek said Disney’s targets were to sign up between 230 million and 260 million subscribers, with the business profitable by September 2024.
He said both goals were “very achievable.” He added that the company hasn’t yet gotten into the swaths of possible new subscribers, pointing to the slate of various new TV and movie offerings, which he thought would be the main revenue driver.
In addition, Disney+ also plans to add an ad-supported version of the service later this year, which would go for a lower price point.
One of Disney’s newest offerings is the Marvel TV show “Moon Knight,” which came out earlier in 2022, and Chapek also said the company could not be happier with the way the reality show “The Kardashians” had done.
See also: Disney Outlines Its Metaverse as ‘Next-Generation Storytelling’
PYMNTS wrote that Disney had recently outlined its metaverse strategy.
The company has banked its brand on giving realistic experiences and bringing characters and stories to life. However, the metaverse might be a new challenge for it, making it keep up with a more enhanced internet blending the real and digital worlds.
The company wants to use futurists, tech execs and metaverse execs to implement what it’s calling “next-generation storytelling.” And Mike White, the Disney exec working on the metaverse, has been working on a task force to try and deal with what comes next.
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