You Can’t Get a Disney+ Free Trial Anymore but That Shouldn’t Surprise You
Since Disney+‘s launch last November 12, it exceeded all expectations as being one of the leading streaming services on the planet. This might sound like fudging facts when the service mostly banked on its existing catalog and facing the possibility of its originals being delayed through 2020.
Thanks to one particular Broadway musical, they probably sustained viewer interest. However, that free 7-day trial period Disney enticed people with initially is now old news.
It seems Disney hit a threshold on the amount of subscribers they wanted. Now, if you sign up, you have to start paying the monthly rate. Will this hurt Disney+ in the long run, or are viewers considering it worth every dollar?
COVID-19 helped Disney+ reach record numbers
No one should feign any surprise at Disney+ removing their 7-day free trial considering their subscriber numbers hit levels even they never thought could happen. Variety reports the streaming service hit 54.5 million subscribers during the height of COVID-19 quarantine. Of course, this was essentially the only income Disney had coming in due to the theme parks closing down, and all movie releases shuttered indefinitely.
Fans no doubt watched all their favorite classics over and over again while stuck indoors. Disney bet on their catalog always being worthy of repeat viewings, and they were right. No one can say they’d watch a Disney classic and never watch it again at some point within a year’s time.
For parents who had to keep their kids entertained at home when schools closed, this was likely a godsend. How many of the above Disney+ watchers were kids or adults would be interesting to know.
One thing definitely attracting the adults (and probably the entire family) was one Broadway musical turned into a feature film. It seemed to bolster Disney+ always staying fresh with something new.
‘Hamilton’ brought everyone into the room where it happened
It was somewhat of a coup Disney+ managed to snag the release of Hamilton after being canceled as a movie theater experience. Debuting it on Disney+ the day before the Fourth of July made viewership soar on the service (reportedly, per Decider, 513,323 app downloads globally), proving how skilled Disney’s programming strategy is.
Besides, more than a few people are likely going to watch Hamilton repeatedly, particularly with it being easy to jump to a favorite musical number if watching on a tablet or phone.
Even with this, however, most media outlets point to Disney having a rough year, according to The Verge, due to the parks closing and their other media outlets. With the parks slowly reopening, can the income for Disney+ sustain once the Hamilton hype wears off?
Considering many of the original MCU shows are also delayed a while, analysts ponder whether consumers continue to pay for Disney+ without doing a free trial first.
A new season of ‘The Mandalorian’ will obviously increase interest
At least Disney confirmed Season 2 of The Mandalorian will be arriving in October of this year. The timing may be just right since Hamilton is probably the last original thing the streamer has available until fall.
Also on the slate are the MCU shows, with the first (Falcon and the Winter Soldier) originally planned to debut in August. The latest news is, according to Tech Radar, MCU shows are delayed until further notice.
Just the anticipation of what Disney+ has in store may be enough to get consumers into the fray since $6.99 per month is more than affordable for most families. Inevitably, when the most anticipated shows arrive, the monthly price will increase, perhaps giving Disney more incentive to bring back the free trial period to avoid consumers rebelling.
