Do consumers have the
appetite (and extra cash) for another premium video subscription service? If that service is Disney+, new research suggests the answer is ‘Yes.’
Asked about a “Netflix-like
service from Disney,” 43% of adult broadband users said they would consider signing up for such a service, according to The Diffusion Group (TDG).
Among that share, 27% of respondents
said they were moderately or highly likely to subscribe to such a service.
“Based on our research, Disney+ will enjoy strong early demand,” Michael Greeson, president of TDG
Research, notes in a new report. “The amount of high-quality content being packed into the offering will make it not only appealing, but very sticky.”
Consumer interest is piqued
by the idea that Disney+ will carry Disney’s vast movie and TV library, including titles from Disney, National Geographic, Pixar and Marvel.
For its findings, TDG randomly assigned
respondents to one of three price points for the service, which ranged from $5.99 to $9.99 per month.
More broadly, the media research consultancy considers the launch of Disney+ as a major
test for the direct-to-consumer model. The forthcoming service differs from subscription aggregators like Netflix and streaming “channels” like HBO Now.
“This is a major
studio pooling what is arguably the largest library of high-value content on the planet to populate a single branded subscription service,” said Greeson. To give its offering a competitive edge,
Disney is pulling select content from third-party platforms like Netflix.
“As such, Disney+ will be under a microscope,” Greeson added, calling it “a running case study of
what [direct-to-consumer] can be, and a real-time measure of what impact, if any, such tribalism may have on the value chain.”
Although Disney+ appeals to a wide range of consumers,
interest varies within several key segments. For example, legacy pay-TV subscribers are more strongly interested in Disney+ than what TDG calls “cord-nevers” and
“cord-cutters.”
Hulu subscribers say they are more likely to sign up for Disney+ than are Prime Video and Netflix subscribers.
Additionally, those under 35 are twice as likely
as their older counterparts to be strongly interested in Disney+. The same goes for folks with children under 18 living in the home.