The Guardian:

Disney’s new streaming service has almost doubled its global subscriber numbers to 50 million since the coronavirus outbreak took hold in February, as lockdown conditions prove a boon for streaming services.

Disney+, which launched in the UK and most major western European markets last month, with hits including the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian, has signed up 50 million subscribers just five months after launch.

It took its rival Netflix, which has more than 160 million subscribers, seven years to reach the same milestone after moving from DVD rental by post to streaming in 2007.

It’s interesting to see how much of the media is treating these numbers as just a horse race without acknowledging the huge advantage Disney has over Netflix, Apple TV+ and other services – a massive, well known and much loved back catalog. A cheap price point doesn’t hurt either.