Disney+ amasses ten million subscribers within first 24 hours of launch

Picture appears courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

According to The Verge, the upstart Disney+ streaming service has surpassed 10 million subscribers within just 24 hours, with it's mobile app been downloaded over more than 3.2 million times. Disney had made the announcement after Apptopia had reported that Disney's mobile app was downloaded more than 3.2 million times. The Mandalorian, a live-action Star Wars series, had been seen by 2 million streams within just the first day, and that number is likely to grow after overnight and second day viewing as well.

Also by the end of the first day, Disney+ was the top app in the App Store, according to Apptopia. The so-called "plus bundle", which included Disney+, ESPN+, and an ad-supported version of Hulu, also allowed these apps to bump up into the top app section as well. It has been projected that Disney+ would have between 10-18 million subscribers within the first year. Also, this is about 6,944 sign ups in just one minute, and to make things broader, about 115 sign ups in just a single second, which may lead into the fact that Disney+ will be more successful than other streaming competitors, especially Netflix, but however, this doesn't seem fair.

The Hollywood Reporter had also announced that Disney had backed up claims for the fact that Disney+'s first-day glitches were more than likely of the result of high-consumer demand when the service had gained 10 million subscribers within just 24 hours. Disney CEO Bob Iger has expected the $7/mo service to amass between 60-90 million global subscribers within its first 5 years, although someone had said that it could hit even more than 100 million subscribers by 2025.

Disney+ used full-on marketing to boost sign-ups for the upstart streaming service, such as offering discounts to fan club members, making a deal with Verizon to give a year free to it's mobile phone subscribers along with bundling it with Hulu and ESPN+. But the company would not disclose how many sign-ups did include people through promotional offers, along with seven day trials which were offered to new users.

And as Disney said, they would not provide subscriber updates for Disney+ outside of the quarterly earnings call. The fourth quarter earnings for Disney isn't set to be revealed until February of next year.

Disney+ launched on November 12 in the United States, Canada, and The Netherlands. It is set to roll out slowly across the rest of the globe, starting with Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico on November 19. Disney said the streaming service is set to launch in most global markets within it's first two years of its initial launch. This also includes a March 31 push into such markets in Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

At it's launch, it served up nearly 500 films, which included several Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars titles, and some 7,500 TV episodes, which also included the entire Simpsons library. Disney+'s original programming for now includes The Mandalorian, the very first live-action Star Wars series; High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a new scripted series set at a real-life East High School based off of the High School Musical franchise; and The World According to Jeff Goldblum, a docuseries made by National Geographic.

Unfortunately, the service had faced many technical challenges during its debut, which is always a common problem for most new services just hitting the market. Disney had released a statement that acknowledged that some customers had faced many challenges in accessing the service. The statement on Twitter read: "The consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our high expectations. We are working to quickly resolve the current user issue. We appreciate your patience."

But despite these escalating streaming wars, Apple has also launched a subscription video service called "Apple TV+", and Warner Media and NBC Universal also have slated plans to debut their own streaming services as well. Warner had also expected that its "HBO Max" service could hit as up to 90 million subscribers within just 5 years.

With 10 million sign-ups in just 24 hours, Disney+ is off to a very great start, although many subscribers will more than likely be lost after the promotions and trials officially end. Hulu currently has 28.5 million subscribers, and ESPN+ has 3.5 million subscribers. But Netflix has a dominant 158 million subscribers worldwide. But then again, Hulu is only available in the U.S. and Japan, while Netflix is available globally.

Disney CEO Bob Iger had said that he'll be confident that the company will reach it's targets. He said that there is only "one Disney".