A new report suggests that subscriptions for Disney+ could skyrocket over the next five years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, TV research analyst Simon Murray predicts that the streaming service will reach 202 million subscribers in 2025 across 138 countries. This is a stark increase from previous estimations of 126 million and 101 million. The report bodes well for Disney, as its new streaming juggernaut is now expected to overtake Amazon Prime Video, which is predicted to reach 141 million subscriptions by 2025.
"We have completely revised our forecasts for 138 countries in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic," Murray said. "A major impact of lockdown has been a steep rise in SVOD subscriptions.”
The report revises the predicted number of total subscribers for a number of streaming services, including Netflix, which is now expected to reach 258 million total subscribers by 2025, up from a previous forecast of 238 million. HBO Max is expected to reach 25 million while Apple TV+ should be at 14 million. This is a decrease from initial estimates of 30 million and 26 million, respectively.
Disney continues to push the platform during the pandemic lockdown, with the streamer entering eight European markets in late March and early April, releasing Frozen 2 and Onward earlier than expected and moving Artemis Fowl off its theatrical release, opting to debut it on the streaming platform instead.