The strong subscriber additions by Disney+ in the latest quarter helped Walt Disney Co's flagship streaming service close the gap with market leader Netflix Inc, but industry watchers focused on future prospects for streaming in a saturating market.
However, a closer look at the numbers showed some of that boost was from Disney's move to bundle Disney+ and ESPN+ with one tier of its Hulu Live service. The media giant's reaffirmation of its long-term goals and a forecast that the second half of the year would grow more strongly than the first half was in sharp contrast to Netflix's gloomy outlook https://reut.rs/3rDdhTh last month.
Netflix has successfully leaned on locally produced content to counter the lack of legacy blockbusters, attracting millions of international subscribers with shows such as"Squid Game","Money Heist" and"Lupin".