Walt Disney Co. said Monday that “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” was the most-watched series premiere yet for its Disney+ streaming service.
Disney
DIS,
+0.90%
did not, however, give any viewer numbers, making the claim somewhat less meaningful as it lacks context. Disney+ is hardly alone in that aspect — most streaming services regularly boast of their most-watched shows without providing detailed viewership data backing it up, making it difficult to tell exactly how popular a particular series actually is.
In a statement, Disney said “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” the Marvel superhero spinoff which debuted Friday, beat out the premiere of fellow Marvel series “WandaVision” and the Season 2 premiere of the “Star Wars” spinoff “The Mandalorian” in their opening weekends. Disney added that “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” was also its most watched show globally, including in Disney+ Hotstar markets.
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It’s not surprising that its three most recent and most high-profile original series were the most-watched in the short history of Disney+. The service is growing rapidly, reporting 74 million subscribers in the Oct. 3-ending quarter (right before “The Mandalorian” premiered), 95 million subscribers in the Jan. 2-ending quarter (ahead of the “WandaVision” premiere) and more than 100 million subscribers as of early March.
Disney shares are up 6.5% year to date, compared to the S&P 500’s
SPX,
+0.70%
5% gain.
