Disney Plus launching in 42 more countries this summer – CNET

Disney is bringing its streaming service Disney Plus to 42 additional countries and 11 territories, greatly expanding its subscriber base and the threat it poses to rivals like Netflix and HBO Max.

Disney Plus hit 118 million global subscribers at the end of 2021 — respectable numbers, but barely 2 million more than the previous quarter and still close to half of the approximate 222 million paid subscribers Netflix has worldwide, according to Statista.

HBO Max and the cable channel HBO ended 2021 with a combined 73.8 million global subscribers, The New York Times reported.

According to a press release on Wednesday, the nations joining the Magic Kingdom’s streaming service are largely from the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine, Poland, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Residents of Vatican City will also be able to subscribe to Disney Plus.

The territories joining the network of subscribers include Faroe Islands, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, St. Pierre and Miquelon Overseas Collective, Åland Islands, Sint Maarten, Svalbard & Jan Mayen, British Indian Ocean Territory, Gibraltar, Pitcairn Islands and St Helena.

Disney Plus’ subscriber rate has stalled since its November 2019 debut, its latest animated feature, Encanto, has been a smash hit: Two million US subscribers watched the movie its first weekend on the streaming service, according to third-party aggregator Samba, and the film’s Lin-Manuel Miranda-composed soundtrack reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts.