Walt Disney has officially surpassed its streaming rival, Netflix as the world’s largest streaming platform, the company’s third-quarter financial reports show.
The record-breaking subscriber count comes as Disney announces its plans to launch a cheaper, ad-supported tier for Disney+. Titled Disney+ Basic, the new plan that will include ads will launch on Dec. 8 in the U.S. and cost $7.99/month, CBR reports.
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Disney now has a total Direct-To-Consumer subscribe count of 221 million which surpasses Netflix’s 220.7 million subscribers, as of July 2022.
The Mouse House’s total subscriber count includes Disney+’s 152.1M, Hulu’s total, including Live TV, at 46.2M and ESPN+’s 22.8M. Disney+ added 14.4 million subscribers during the company’s third fiscal quarter while Hulu and ESPN+ added 600 thousand and 500 thousand new subscribers, respectively.
This is the first time any streaming platform surpasses that of Netflix.
Netflix reported 220.67 million total global subs, after losing almost 1 million for the three months.
According to Deadline, Disney will shed some subscribers down the line after losing a bidding war for streaming cricket rights in India, where a big chunk of Disney+ subs is based.
