Disney Plus reaches 95 million subscribers which exceeds their four-year projections

Just 14 months into the streaming service Disney Plus’ existence, it has already exceeded its own parent company’s expectations.

Disney announced on Thursday that they had amassed 94.9 million Disney Plus subscribers worldwide as of January 2, 2021, via Variety. 

The new tally represents a rise of 8 million subscribers since their 86.8 million tally as of December 2, while also exceeding their four-year projection of 90 million subscribers in just 14 months.

The massive growth likely benefited from the highly-anticipated release of the Pixar animated movie Soul, which debuted on Christmas Day.

Just days earlier, the second season of the wildly popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian came to a close with a jaw-dropping season finale. 

Soul topped the Nielsen streaming charts for the week of December 21-27, amassing a whopping 1.66 billion minutes in just the first three days of release.

The Mouse House is planning on funneling billions of dollars into content over the next few years.

The studio announced at their Investor Day in December a slate of 105 movie and TV shows including shows for their Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and Disney Animation brands.

The studio also revealed at Investor Day that 80% of those movies and TV shows are targeted for Disney Plus and other streaming services.

Disney amassed a total of 146.4 million customers through all of their streaming services including Hulu (39.4 million, up 30% from last year) and ESPN Plus (12.1 million, up 83% from last year).

All told, Disney’s 146.4 million subscribers over all of their streaming services put them behind Netflix’s 203.7 million subscribers, but that’s only after 14 months.

Disney will likely get another large bump with the February 23 release of Star, its  international streaming service that will be rolled out with Disney Plus. 

Disney also announced during Investor Day that prices will be going up for the streaming service.

Disney Plus will go up to $7.99 per month, up a dollar from $6.99, or $79.99 per year, up from $69.99. 

The three-way bundle including Disney Plus, Hulu with ads and ESPN Plus will jump a dollar per month to $13.99.