A sales warning from the streaming giant Netflix earlier this year was the ultimate bad omen for Disney. But dread didn’t turn to disappointment for the entertainment conglomerate, which is one of a band of rivals chasing down Netflix’s lead in the market for on-demand TV and film.
The emergence from lockdown has not derailed ambitious growth plans for its direct-to-consumer platform Disney+, and joint ventures Hulu and sports service ESPN+. A net 11.8 million new subscribers were added to Disney+ during the first quarter, ahead of Wall Street expectations. That was also ahead of the 2 million subscriber growth recorded during the quarter before. That prompted the largest one-day increase in the shares in almost a year.
The group’s bet on streaming services is
