Fast-growing streaming service, Disney+, The Walt Disney Company will launch in South Africa.
In a Q3 2021 earnings call, the group said that South Africa will be included in the next country rollout which will take place in ‘summer 2022’
Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the company’s third-quarter results had been delayed from this year to next to accommodate a launch in South Africa and some markets in the Middle East.
The launch will add to a wide range of streaming video subscription platforms already available to South African audience, including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, the homegrown Showmax owned by MultiChoice Group, and the recently launched BritBox (a joint venture between the BBC and ITV that showcases the “best of British” programming).
With streaming service reaching 116 million subscribers in the fiscal third quarter and beating the projected 113.1 million Disney+ has continued to surprise investors.
The entertainment giant said its platform added 12.4 million subscribers in the third quarter.
Revenue soared, showing the return of tourists after the post-Covid shutdown, beating estimates of $16.8 billion.
“The planned launch adds to a wide array of streaming video subscription platforms already available to South African viewers”
In July 2021, Netflix reported a decline in North American subscribers and issued a disappointing forecast for the current quarter, raising investor concerns.
Disney shares rose as much as 5% to US$188.20 in after-market trading. Reflecting that he world’s largest entertainment company is recovering from the pandemic, which shut its theme parks across the world, idled cruised ships and crimped attendance at movie theatres for much of the past year.