There wasn’t much debate in the trades concerning whether or not Disney+ was going to be a hit video-on-demand platform. For many, it could be difficult to imagine life without our favorite Disney princesses, super heroes, and animated shorts that come before each Pixar movie.
But the question remains: just how big a hit is it going to be?
The answer, ahead of its November 12 launch? It’s going to be big.
According to a CivicScience study, a full 22% of American adults say they are likely to subscribe to Disney+, a number that has steadily trended upward since we first asked the question back in February. In fact, it’s doubled. And there is little reason to believe the number won’t continue to grow as the excitement builds for the launch.
The Force Wins Over Subscribers
So who’s subscribing? Two groups over-index. Parents, for starters, with a quarter of American parents between the ages of 18-54 saying they will be on board with Disney+.
The other group is specifically male parents who are more likely than female parents to say they plan on subscribing. And the reason very well may be …
…the Force. Disney+ will be the only home of “The Mandalorian,” a show that takes place in the “Star Wars” universe. Twenty-four percent of men who say they have a favorable view of “Star Wars” also say they will be getting Disney+. That’s nearly triple the amount of men who hold a “neutral” or “unfavorable” view of the franchise.
Attracting Even a Few Non-streamers
Americans who are already enamored with streaming content plan on doubling – and in some cases, tripling and quadrupling – down on Disney+. For starters, so-called “power users” of Netflix – people who watch at least a few hours a week on the streaming channel – are 66% more likely to subscribe to Disney+ than more casual users of the service. And they’re nearly five times as likely to get Disney+ than non-users of Netflix. Only 3% of would-be Disney+ subscribers say they plan on cancelling their Netflix account.
Piggybacking on the above, the more streaming services someone already has, the more likely they will be to add Disney+ to the queue.
And when asked what’s the maximum number of video-on-demand services they’d have at once, the number of potential Disney+ subscribers again align heavily with people who are already in deep with streaming content. Worth noting: People with no streaming services – to the tune of about 7% – plan on having Disney+ be their first.
Clearly, Disney+ is about to become a dominating force in the streaming wars. But other content creators and deliverers might not need to worry about it too much. It could be that people who stream shows and movies care more about getting access than limiting their number of subscriptions. So right now, there seems to be room on the Roku sticks and cable boxes for at least one more choice.
For what it’s worth, Mary Poppins would likely pay a visit to would-be Disney+ subscribers, as people who consider themselves “pretty tidy” are less than half as likely than messy people to subscribe to the service.
