TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Alviva shares leap higher on R3-billion take-private offer

      30 June 2022

      Datatec to sell Analysys Mason for as much as R4.1-billion

      30 June 2022

      Futuregrowth launches start-up fund, targets R600-million raise

      30 June 2022

      Eskom is killing the rand

      30 June 2022

      Eskom ramps up load shedding as crisis deepens

      30 June 2022
    • World

      Graphics card prices plummet as crypto demand dries up

      30 June 2022

      Bitcoin just had its worst quarter in a decade

      30 June 2022

      Samsung beats TSMC to 3nm chip production

      30 June 2022

      Napster plots crypto comeback

      29 June 2022

      Pictures: Chinese spacecraft acquires images of entire planet of Mars

      29 June 2022
    • In-depth

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022

      Everything Apple announced at WWDC – in less than 500 words

      7 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Sections»Broadcasting and Media»Disney closes the gap with Netflix

    Disney closes the gap with Netflix

    Broadcasting and Media By Agency Staff11 February 2022
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    The strong subscriber additions by Disney+ in the latest quarter helped Walt Disney Co’s flagship streaming service close the gap with market leader Netflix, but industry watchers focused on future prospects for streaming in a saturating market.

    Disney+ added 11.8 million subscribers in the first quarter as viewers signed up to watch hits like The Mandalorian and Black Widow.

    However, a closer look at the numbers showed some of that boost was from Disney’s move to bundle Disney+ and ESPN+ with one tier of its Hulu Live service.

    Disney may have room to grow on the streaming subscription front but at some point it will hit saturation

    Analyst Michael Nathanson of Moffett Nathanson highlighted that two million subscriptions were a result of the automatic bundle with Hulu Live and another 2.6 million came from Disney+ Hotstar, which generates about US$1 monthly revenue per user.

    The media giant’s reaffirmation of its long-term goals and a forecast that the second half of the year would grow more strongly than the first half was in sharp contrast to Netflix’s gloomy outlook last month.

    “Disney may have room to grow on the streaming subscription front but at some point it will hit saturation point,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

    “For now, Disney is defending its competitive position against older players, but this isn’t the walk in the park one might expect from a company with a content cupboard already brimming with famous blockbusters,” Sophie Lund-Yates, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said.

    Well behind

    To be sure, Disney is still well behind Netflix in terms of overall subscriber numbers. The two-year-old streaming service’s total subscribers stood at 129.8 million as of last year, as viewers paid to watch The Book of Boba Fett, The Beatles: Get Back and Oscar-nominated animated film Encanto. Netflix had about 222 million total paid memberships, as of 2021.

    During its post-earnings conference call, Disney executives stressed the importance of local content as the US market saturates. The company recently appointed Rebecca Campbell to double down on international content.

    Netflix has successfully leaned on locally produced content to counter the lack of legacy blockbusters, attracting millions of international subscribers with shows such as Squid Game, Money Heist and Lupin.

    Disney’s finance chief Christine McCarthy said on the earnings call that out of the $33-billion in total spending, about a third is set aside for sports and the remainder for content.

    “With Disney+ coming to 42 more countries in the summer (southern hemisphere winter) of 2022, the international growth story may prove more important than the US,” said Joe McCormack, senior analyst at Third Bridge.  — Eva Mathews, Akash Sriram and Subrat Patnaik, (c) 2022 Reuters

    Disney Netflix Walt Disney Co
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleMusk confident Starship will reach orbit this year
    Next Article nuvoteQ delivers a safe clinical trial for vaccine roll-out in India

    Related Posts

    Alviva shares leap higher on R3-billion take-private offer

    30 June 2022

    Datatec to sell Analysys Mason for as much as R4.1-billion

    30 June 2022

    Futuregrowth launches start-up fund, targets R600-million raise

    30 June 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Billetterie simplifies interactions between law firms and clients

    30 June 2022

    Think herding cats is tricky? Try herding a cloud

    29 June 2022

    How your business can help hybrid workers effectively

    28 June 2022
    Opinion

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.