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Why Disney+ Leaped as Netflix Stumbled

The Netflix doom-and-gloom narrative is likely shortsighted and apocryphal. But Disney’s recent streaming rejuvenation suggests some key factors that will dictate the winners and losers in this evolving streaming arms race.

The Beatles: Get Back
Photo by Linda McCartney via Disney
Julia Alexander
February 13, 2022

Netflix kicked off the current earnings season by kneeing all of Hollywood in the crotch. A subscriber miss, sure, but most troubling was the company’s  projection of just 2.5 million new customers in the next quarter. The company’s stock tumbled, and it dragged down with it Disney, ViacomCBS and the other entertainment companies that have bet their futures on the streaming revolution. But then, not two weeks later, Disney surprised Wall Street on Wednesday by reporting the addition of nearly 12 million subscribers to Disney+, sending its stock price flying.