Disney+ had a lot to offer when it came on the scene just under two years ago. The home of some of the most popular franchises ever, it was clear that Disney’s streaming service would be a major player in the crowded space from day one... and it was. The service has only continued to grow, and at least one analyst firm believes that Disney+ will become the biggest streaming service in the world in the next four years.
Digital TV Research has released a report (via THR) which states that it believes that come 2025, Disney+ will have more subscribers than Netflix. In 2026, it estimates that Disney+ will have 284.2 subscribers, while Netflix will “only” have 270.7. Both those numbers have actually been reduced from an earlier estimate, but the Netflix number took a bigger hit, as previously the firm believed Disney+ would take the global streaming lead in 2026.
In the previous version of the report from February, it was stated that while Disney+ would have the global streaming lead, Netflix would still have more subscribers than Disney+ in most other countries. The one major exception being India, where Disney+ Hotstar has a significant lead over Netflix.
Certainly, Disney+ has been on a somewhat meteoric rise in the streaming space, but Netflix has been the global leader from the beginning. Netflix has over 200 million subscribers right now, while Disney+ is at about 116 million, but at some point you start to run out of households who don’t already have your service, so Netflix is certainly going to be growing at a slower pace for the next few years while Disney+ continues to close the gap.
While the global pandemic hurt Disney in every other sector of their business, Disney+ was in the perfect position to grow as movie theaters closed and consumers went to streaming to get all their content. Between releasing some movies day-and-date with theatrical releases, or releasing them strictly to Disney+ alone, the House of Mouse gave people plenty of reasons to want to get Disney+ if they didn’t already.
Between having your favorite Disney movies available at the touch of a button and the slate of original content that adds to the worlds of Marvel and Star Wars, it’s going to be difficult for other streaming services to compete with Disney when it comes to branded content.
Disney is going to show just how big it is in just a few weeks. In just about one month, Disney will celebrate Disney+ Day, the two year anniversary of the service. That one day alone will see some major releases to the streaming service. Including Jungle Cruise, the last Premier Access title, opened up for all subscribers, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which will be hitting Disney+ only about two months after its theatrical release.
