year for free. That suggests a market of 40 million
customers, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said.
Disney Plus, which arrives Nov. 12, is also
cheaper than Netflix at $7 a month. Disney
struck a deal with Verizon to give customers of
all unlimited wireless plans and some home-
internet customers a free year. Members of
Disney’s free D23 fan club were also eligible to
buy three years of Disney Plus service up front
for the price of two years. Disney is targeting 60
million to 90 million worldwide by 2024.
AT&T’s HBO Max, which launches in May for
$15 a month, is the most expensive of the new
services. That could make it tough for AT&T to
reach its goal of 50 million U.S. customers and 75
million to 90 million worldwide by 2025.
But AT&T will make the service free for about
10 million existing HBO subscribers, or about a
third of its U.S. subscribers. HBO Max will also
be included with AT&T’s higher-tier wireless and
broadband offerings.
Comcast’s Peacock service will be free for many
of its own cable and internet customers. The
regular price hasn’t been announced yet. The
service launches next spring.
“I don’t think customers are going to have to
make difficult choices about cutting one in
order to add another for the first few years,” said
MoffettNathanson Research’s Craig Moffett.
But companies can’t run the services at a loss
forever, and when discounts end and prices rise,
customers may flee. After all, the services add
up fast, and signing up to multiple ones could
end up costing as much as the cable packages
people are ditching for streaming.