Bob Chapek, Disney CEO, announced important news for the streaming platform: the launch date for Latin America, its remarkable goal of subscribers and the surprising strategy for the release of Mulan.
This Tuesday, August 4, during the quarterly presentation of financial results for The Walt Disney Company, its CEO, Bob Chapek, made a series of announcements related to its Disney+ streaming service.
The most relevant include the launch in Latin America, its subscriber numbers and the innovative premiere model for the long-awaited film Mulan: in premium rental format on the platform, and in cinemas in certain territories.
LAUNCH IN LATAM
The wait is over: Disney+ will arrive in Latin American countries in November, according to Chapek.
The news confirms forecasts that the streaming service would land in the region in late 2020.
Latin America will thus join other multiple territories where Disney+ is available, including the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan and, from the next 15 September, also Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
60.5 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS, THE GOAL FOR 5 YEARS
Another major announcement was the update for the number of subscribers to Disney’s direct to consumer services: Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
Among the three, they accumulated at the end of June 2020 more than 100 million SVOD clients, the company said.
Disney+ alone had more than 60.5 million paying subscribers worldwide. This means that in less than 9 months the platform reached its goal of global subscribers for five years.
These numbers lead Disney to be “even more confident” about its future, said Chapek, who also highlighted the 15 Emmy nominations for The Mandalorian, the OTT’s original series.
Hulu had 35.5 million clients at the end of June (27% annual growth) and ESPN+, with 8.5 million, more than tripled its numbers compared to last year.
THE HISTORIC PREMIERE OF MULAN
After several times delaying the release of Mulan due to the pandemic, Disney decided to join the wave of streaming movie releases, and announced that its long-awaited movie will be released exclusively on Disney+.
The premiere on OTT, however, will follow a premium rental modality: for US$ 29.99, subscribers will be able to watch the film without limits.
Mulan will launch on Disney+ on September 4 in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Western European countries.
In countries where the platform is not available, it will be released in cinemas on the same date.
“Unfortunately, we have had to delay the release of the highly anticipated Disney movie, Mulan, several times due to Covid’s impact in theaters. In order to meet the needs of consumers during this unpredictable period, we thought it was important to find alternative ways to deliver this exceptional movie to families in a timely manner,” said the CEO of Disney.
“We see this as an opportunity to bring this incredible film to a broad audience that currently cannot go to theaters, while further enhancing the value and appeal of a Disney + subscription with this great content,” he added.
However, Chapek was in charge of making it clear that the premiere of Mulan will not be a new way to launch Disney movies, but rather it is a one-time event.
