DIS Walt Disney Co

By Erich Schwartzel 

LOS ANGELES -- Walt Disney Co.'s flagship streaming service has signed up 10 million users, the company said the day after Disney+ launched.

Disney had been offering subscriptions for several months before Tuesday's launch, including some at a significant discount.

Reaching 10 million subscribers about 24 hours after the formal launch appears to be a robust start for the company, but it's unclear how much each of those customers is worth to Disney. One of the company's most popular subscription promotions sold a three-year deal for roughly $141, or less than $4 a month.

A deal offering a free year of the service to certain Verizon Communications Inc. customers is also likely contributing a significant number of sign-ups.

Speaking at a conference in Barcelona on Wednesday, Verizon's finance chief said about 17 million accounts at the carrier are the kind of unlimited plans that are eligible for the Disney+ promotion. The CFO, Matt Ellis, declined to say exactly how many of the carrier's customers have begun using the video streaming service, but said "we would expect a pretty significant number" of eligible subscribers to take advantage of the offer.

Disney still has a long way to go if it is to catch up to Netflix Inc., which has about 61 million subscribers domestically and another 98 million overseas.

Disney+ is so far only available in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands, but is to expand to foreign markets in the coming months.

Disney shares were up nearly 2% following the news, rising to more than $141 in midday trading Wednesday.

The Disney+ launch was marred by technical glitches that slowed streaming and kicked users out of the app for several hours. The issues, which were resolved by the end of the day, were driven by servers overwhelmed by the demand of continuous streaming and a large number of sign-ups.

Disney has priced its service at $6.99 a month -- around half the cost of Netflix's most popular plan -- hoping to attract a large number of new users right out of the gate.

Disney+ is counting on two primary kinds of programming to draw users: original shows such as the Star Wars spinoff "The Mandalorian" and a reboot of "High School Musical," and an archive of classic Disney titles, ranging from animated classics like "Bambi" to live-action features such as "Sister Act." The service includes about 500 movies and 7,500 TV episodes in total.

Disney said it would not issue further updates on its subscriber figures outside of quarterly earnings calls with investors.

Sarah Krouse contributed to this article.

Write to Erich Schwartzel at erich.schwartzel@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 13, 2019 13:42 ET (18:42 GMT)

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024