• by Wayne Friedman , September 26, 2019

Walt Disney’s streaming businesses -- Disney+ and ESPN+ -- are adding a senior executive marketer from Lending Tree.

Brad Wilson will be executive vp of performance marketing for Disney+ and ESPN+, working with each streaming service’s brand and content marketing groups. He will report to Michael Paull, president of Disney Streaming Services.

Paull says Wilson will pursue strong data-driven marketing to “accelerate customer growth, engagement, and retention for ESPN+ and the upcoming Disney+”.

Previously, Wilson was chief marketing officer at LendingTree, heading up brand strategy, marketing operations, and consumer engagement.

Before that he was general manager of Travelocity for North America -- starting with the company in 2011. His other marketing experience includes Nutrisystem, Blockbuster Online and Match.com.

Disney recently announced that U.S. consumers can now sign up early for Disney+, which launches November 12.

Consumers can pre-order the service  -- either monthly or annual subscriptions -- at $6.99 and $69.99, respectively. There is a seven-day, free trial beginning November 12.

Disney+ looks to be a strong competitor to dominant premium streaming platform Netflix, as well as other streaming services coming from the likes of WarnerMedia’s HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock.

Digital TV Research expects Disney+ to reach 82 million subscribers worldwide by 2024.

Disney executives have estimated that in the U.S., Disney+ will pull in up to 30 million subscribers by 2024 and 12 million for ESPN+. Currently, ESPN+ has around 2 million subscribers.