25% of Brits intend on subscribing to Disney+

A quarter of Brits plan to subscribe to Disney+ when it launches in the UK.

According to a new survey carried out by ExpressVPN, 25% of UK consumers plan to subscribe to Disney’s upcoming premium streaming service. This is contrasting against just 16% who say they are planning on subscribing to Apple TV+.

Almost two thirds (60%) of the respondents said they plan to keep their subscriptions to existing services – such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video – despite the promise of these new platforms. 

However, the survey goes on to say that 32% of consumers have previously cancelled a subscription because of location-related content restrictions. 

Harold Li, vice president of ExpressVPN said:“The launch of these new streaming services shows that the appetite for on-demand content that can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere is massive and still growing – especially among Millennials. For now at least, Netflix remains the streaming king but it will have to work hard to retain users in the face of new competition with huge war chests and existing ecosystem advantages. 

“To maintain its lead, Netflix may have to reconsider how it offers different content libraries in each market, particularly given that Disney’s unique advantage of owning a significant volume of original movies and shows means it is more likely to be able to offer content with fewer geographical restrictions.”

This survey would indicate that awareness of Disney+ is already fairly high in the country, even though Disney has announced no plans to launch the streamer for the foreseeable future. 

In October, Disney’s official Twitter account for Disney+ confirmed that its UK DisneyLife offering will be active “for some time” and that there are no plans to imminently bring the new SVOD to the country.

It is believed that despite the UK being a very important market for Disney, the delay in launching the service is a combination of licensing issues and contractual obligations with Sky.

Disney’s deal with Sky, factoring in Fox, is spread across five European markets and is worth approximately £800 million per year. This deal runs into 2020, and Disney will not make a play in the UK until Q1 of next year.