Disney Officially “Lowers the Bar” For Disney+ Streaming Service

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Credit: Disney

Disney+ is the streaming home of nearly all of Disney’s subsidiaries, including Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm/Star Wars, and Pixar Animation Studios.

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Credit: ABC 6 Philadelphia

Related: Marvel and ‘Star Wars’ Are Making Streaming History This Week

Since 2019, notably, an entire catalog of Star Wars and MCU movies, including the nine-film Skywalker Saga and the entire Avengers Infinity Saga, have been added to the popular platform, which has exceeded all subscriber expectations.

The Mandalorian — which introduced Grogu (AKA “Baby Yoda”) and bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to the Star Wars universe — quickly skyrocketed up the charts as the cornerstone of the Disney+ service.

Both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars have released numerous Disney+ Original series in addition to their feature films. Star Wars, for instance, has given fans two seasons of The Mandalorian, two animated series — Star Wars: Visions and Dave Filoni’s Star Wars: The Bad Batch — and, now, Mandalorian spinoff The Book of Boba Fett.

Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian
Credit: Lucasfilm

Related: Marvel Actress Admits to Clandestinely Trolling Fans

Another live-action installment, Obi-Wan Kenobi, debuted on May 27, 2022, and Rogue One prequel, Andor, is set to premiere on September 21.

Marvel President Kevin Feige’s team has also been hard at work, putting out five series — WandaVisionThe Falcon and the Winter SoldierLokiWhat If…?, and Hawkeye — in 2021 alone.

2022 has seen the addition of more MCU series, including Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel.

Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan
Credit: Marvel Studios

Related: ‘The Mandalorian’ Just Connected Grogu to Ben Solo

Despite the success of Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and other Disney+ Original series and movies, the streaming platform still hasn’t officially reached profitability — though it is projected to in 2024.

Now, a new report in the print edition of the Wall Street Journal notes that Disney officially downgraded its growth forecast for Disney+ during a recent earnings update:

Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy on the company’s call with analysts Wednesday [August 10] ratched down its forecast for disney+, saying it now expects to sign up between 135 million and 165 million subscribers to its core Disney+ service, and up to 80 million to its lower-cost Asian streaming service, Disney+ Hotstar, for a total range of 215 million to 245 million subscribers by September 2024. 

disney plus presentation
Credit: ABC

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WSJ noted that, although the company has now officially “lowered the bar” for growth, just a few months ago, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek said that the target of 230 million to 260 million subscribers by the same date was “very achievable.”

Although this new projection might not seem dramatically lower than the original one, a reduction of 15 million projected subscribers at the top end could actually have a significant financial impact.

disney plus logo
Credit: Disney+

Related: ‘Lord of the Rings’ in Danger, HBO Max Reportedly Pushing Landmark Layoffs

This is particularly true with recent price increases for the Disney Bundle.

What do you think about Disney downgrading its Disney+ growth projections?

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