#Disney to catch up with Netflix in streaming wars by 2022: report

Move over Netflix — Disney will catch up with you by 2022.

That’s according to a new report from eMarketer, which said Tuesday that Disney’s year-old streaming service, Disney+, is on pace to have a market share on par with Netflix in just two years.

By that point, the research firm predicted that Disney and Netflix will each garner more than $12 billion in domestic subscription streaming revenue. Netflix is expected to edge out Disney with $12.95 billion, compared to Disney’s $12.36 billion, which includes revenues from Hulu and ESPN+.

The company projected that Disney’s market share will “also be nearly equal,” thanks to a strong pipeline of movies and TV shows.

“Hit shows like ‘The Mandalorian’, Disney’s vast library, key distribution deals, and a massive marketing push drove strong initial growth in subscribers,” said Eric Haggstrom, eMarketer forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence. “It’s expected to continue to grow off that base as it ramps up content releases and brings some movies straight to the service, instead of a theatrical release in some cases.”

During its investor day meeting on Friday, Disney said its streaming service has already garnered more than 80 million subscribers since it launched last November. The company also rolled out a slate of new shows, including 10 new “Star Wars” TV series debuting in 2021.

Still, Netflix is leading the streaming wars with about 195 million global subscribers. Overall, eMarketer said the streaming market has much room for growth, predicting that total revenues for the US sector will jump 30 percent in 2021 to $38.15 billion and climb over 19 percent in 2022.

“The subscription streaming landscape continues to expand,” Haggstrom said. “The good news for dominant player Netflix is that while new services like Disney+ have had successful launches, many consumers have been simply stacking services together.”