Disney’s ad-supported plan is ahead of both Netflix and HBO Max when it comes to collecting new subscribers, a US-based analyst has said.
Jonathan Carson, who’s co-Founder and CEO of Antenna, says in the first month of release the House of Mouse has secured 20% of new sign-ups for one of its ad-supported plans. This compares to Netflix, which converted 9% in its first month and 14% for HBO Max. By the third month, Disney+ reached 36%, compared to 19% for Netflix and 21% for HBO Max.
The Netflix model is different to that of its competitors in that the ad supported version of the streamer is only available at the basic end of its tiers, meaning that for HD or Ultra HD versions a subscriber must pay the full rate.
The Disney+ ad tier was launched at the same time as a hefty price increase, leaving subscribers with the choice of paying an additional $3 per month, or switching to an ad supported plan.
The result was that 5% cancelled and less than 1% of existing Subscribers maintained their current cost by switching to the Ad-supported plan.
Antenna adds that HBO Max’s ad-supported plan saw incremental increases among both new sign-ups and existing subscribers in the months following its launch. The plan now accounts for 20% of all HBO Max Subscribers.
Source: https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2023/03/20/disney-ahead-in-avod-subscriber-gain/