New streamers Disney+ and Apple TV+ have secured solid market share, challenging their rivals.
Disney+ and Apple TV+ are fourth and fifth, respectively, among SVOD services adopted by consumers, according to research from Parks Associates. That places them behind Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu.
In fact, Disney+, with 54.5 million subscribers, has earned a 25 percent adoption rate among U.S. broadband households after just six months in the market. Apple TV+ has a 10 percent adoption rate.
Since the pandemic, nearly three in 10 broadband houses have increased their time with online video, the research finds.
“Disney took a broad-based content approach to its Disney+ service, including its Pixar, Stars Wars, Marvel, Nat Geo, and 20th Century Fox properties, to make it broadly appealing, far beyond its traditional audience of families with young children,” says Steve Nason, research director, Parks Associates. Research Director, Parks Associates.
“Very few Disney+ subscribers subscribe only to this service, so households are not picking up Disney in place of another service, but adding to their home’s other OTT services,” he adds.
Disney+ has other built-in plusses. It’s offered as a bundle with Hulu and ESPN+, as well as a partnership with Verizon. (Parent Disney owns all three streaming services.)
Conversely, Nason notes Apple TV+’s growth is thanks to a free year of service for those that bought an Apple device.
He says Apple TV+ has a higher percentage of exclusive non-Netflix subscribers, plus a higher number of households that recently canceled another OTT service. In short, the streamer claims dedicated subscribers.
“Apple’s challenge is to expand beyond that group,” says Nason.