High Churn Potential Threat to Disney Plus Launch in Europe, Says Futuresource

Disney Plus is set to become Europe’s third largest streaming service behind Netflix and Amazon Prime Video after it launches Tuesday in eight major markets, blogged Futuresource Friday. COVID-19's “stay-at-home directive,” plus new distribution partnerships, will drive “subscriber uptake” to reach “even higher levels than previously anticipated,” it said. But Futuresource predicts pent-up Disney Plus demand at launch in Europe will be lower than in the U.S., where the service signed on nearly 30 million paid subscribers in the 13 weeks after the Nov. 12 debut (see 2002040068). “The key challenge for Disney across all markets will be maintaining its growth in new subscriptions after such quick traction, whilst retaining its existing monthly subscribers,” said Futuresource. Its research found slightly more than half of Disney Plus European subscribers will be on monthly plans.