Disney isn’t willing to concede defeat in the Streaming Wars just yet. Despite trailing behind Netflix in most major categories, including subscriber numbers and profitability, Disney+ does have one advantage over the world’s largest streaming service: users of its ad-supported plan.
A new survey released by Antenna shows that Disney+ is continuing to outpace Netflix in terms of new subscriptions to its ad-supported tier Disney+ Basic. Antenna’s numbers show that between the launch of Disney+ Basic last December and the end of May 2023, 36% of all signups to the service were on the Basic tier. Netflix’s Standard with Ads plan, which hit the market in November accounts for just 18% of all Netflix subscriptions in the same time frame.
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There could be many reasons for this; users might think of ad-free Netflix as a better bargain than ad-free Disney+, or they might feel Disney+’s ad experience is better than Netflix’s. There’s certainly no call for panic from Netflix, as it still has 5 million global users on its ad-supported plan. Still, there’s no doubt it was hoping for better engagement with the new price tier in the early months.
These numbers might be part of the reason that Netflix is discontinuing its cheapest ad-free tier in Canada. Speculation is already rife that this move is coming for more territories around the globe, and it would certainly make sense that the company would want to drive more people to Standard with Ads by widening the price gap between that plan ($6.99 per month) and the ad-free Standard plan ($15.49 per month).
The data also points to how ubiquitous ad-supported streaming has become; 71% of Americans now choose to stream subscription video with ads at least some of the time. One might think that older users who grew up watching TV with ads would be more accustomed to streaming with ads, but Antenna’s numbers indicate that there is no real demographic skew between people who watch ads with every streaming service (ad takers), people who never watch ads (ad avoiders), people who choose ad-supported plans some of the time (ad managers) and those who have never been given the choice (ad oblivious).
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In short, ad-supported streaming isn’t going anywhere. Netflix still has some work to do in attracting more users to its Standard with Ads plan, though new restrictions on password sharing and the discontinuing of its cheaper ad-free plans will no doubt aid in its goal of surpassing Disney+ in terms of new subscriptions for its commercial-equipped streaming tier.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”