Streaming services like Disney+ see significant uptick in new users

[nanoguy]

In brief: Family-friendly streaming services like Disney+ have seen a surge in new subscribers over the last week as a result of schools shutting down and people looking to fill their time while under lockdown. Virtually every service has experienced growth over the past couple of weeks, some more than others.

The coronavirus response has more and more countries recommending social distancing or placing entire regions on lockdown, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that people are looking to fill up their time with more home entertainment. And given how expensive a TV cable package can get, streaming services are seeing a boom in the number of new subscribers.

Surprisingly, reports last week showed that fewer people are streaming popular music, while the opposite is happening in the video-on-demand and TV streaming space. According to analysts at Antenna, Disney+ in particular saw a tripling in the volume of people signing up in the US.

This figure is relative to the volume of new users from last week, and even Netflix - which was believed to have reached its maximum growth in the US - has seen a healthy 47 percent increase. HBO saw almost twice as many people signing up, thanks in part to the recent season premiere of Westworld and the series premiere of The Plot Against America earlier this month.

Others have seen relatively modest gains, including Apple TV+ and CBS All Access. As noted by Forbes, most of these increases happened just as the school closures came into effect.

In the EU, rising demand for streaming services and people working from home has put pressure on internet service providers, so the bloc urged Netflix and Youtube to reduce their bandwidth usage as a temporary solution to prevent traffic congestion. Netflix was the first to introduce a 25 percent reduction in video bitrate, followed by YouTube, Amazon and several others.

In related news, gamers are also increasingly glued to their PCs in record numbers on platforms like Steam. The service went from 20 million concurrent players a week ago to over 22 million as of writing.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/84516-streaming-services-like-disney-see-significant-uptick-new.html

 

[Gotit4cheap16]

Disney+ has been absolutely garbage since ive signed up when they started. The Mandaloreon has been the only interesting thing on there. People have been waiting for the claimed marvel TV shows for the longest and after the Mandaloreon ended, I haven't been on the app since. So basically I have been wasting money.

 

[Irata]

Disney+ has been absolutely garbage since ive signed up when they started. The Mandaloreon has been the only interesting thing on there. People have been waiting for the claimed marvel TV shows for the longest and after the Mandaloreon ended, I haven't been on the app since. So basically I have been wasting money.

The Mandalorian and Clone Wars are why I signed up. Not sure if there‘ll be much of interest to stay subscribed after the first year (unlike Netflix which is a keeper).

Then again, due to the early subscriber rebate it costs me less for the year than the pay TV package (Sky) I just cancelled, so it‘s not too bad. Kid will probably watch the Simpsons and there‘s National Geographic, as well.

That said it‘s a bit of a shame I can‘t watch it in all if its 4k HDR glory due to the current events but I don‘t mind since it‘s for the common good and 4k did not cost extra anyway.

 

[Lounds]

The Mandalorian and Clone Wars are why I signed up. Not sure if there‘ll be much of interest to stay subscribed after the first year (unlike Netflix which is a keeper).

Then again, due to the early subscriber rebate it costs me less for the year than the pay TV package (Sky) I just cancelled, so it‘s not too bad. Kid will probably watch the Simpsons and there‘s National Geographic, as well.

That said it‘s a bit of a shame I can‘t watch it in all if its 4k HDR glory due to the current events but I don‘t mind since it‘s for the common good and 4k did not cost extra anyway.

Yeah that £50 sign up for 12 months was an absolute steal. They have all the Spiderman animated series on there from the 1990s win.

 

[Mister_K]

The Mandalorian and Clone Wars are why I signed up. Not sure if there‘ll be much of interest to stay subscribed after the first year (unlike Netflix which is a keeper).

Then again, due to the early subscriber rebate it costs me less for the year than the pay TV package (Sky) I just cancelled, so it‘s not too bad. Kid will probably watch the Simpsons and there‘s National Geographic, as well.

That said it‘s a bit of a shame I can‘t watch it in all if its 4k HDR glory due to the current events but I don‘t mind since it‘s for the common good and 4k did not cost extra anyway.

They need to pump out content like no other. Maybe Disney could pump money into the Indie film market. Go on Vimeo, pick the staff picks and offer them $$$ to create content for Disney.

I would love if Netflix did this. So many good small time directors/filmmakers that could create solid 30mins/1hr long episodes/documentaries etc...

 

[Irata]

They need to pump out content like no other. Maybe Disney could pump money into the Indie film market. Go on Vimeo, pick the staff picks and offer them $$$ to create content for Disney.

I would love if Netflix did this. So many good small time directors/filmmakers that could create solid 30mins/1hr long episodes/documentaries etc...

I think the problem for me with Disney+ is that they are offering their own content and there just isn‘t that much there series wise that interests me.

Love their animated movies but already have the ones I particularly like on Blu-Ray already. There are a few Marvel movies I haven’t really seen yet that I will also watch. Is that something I will need to subscribe for after the first year? Not really.

Do I think Disney is capable of producing edgier stuff like Netflix ? Definitely not. So your suggestion to get Indie filmmakers on board is in theory good but imho nothing that would work with Disney.

I feel all they are capable of doing what is mainstream for them. Do not recall seeing much original from Disney, mostly milking and messing up already existing IP.