Customers on Verizon’s unlimited data plans will be able to score a free year of Disney’s upcoming streaming service Disney+. Disney and Verizon on announced that all new and existing Verizon wireless unlimited customers, new Fios Home Internet and 5G Home Internet customers will get 12 months of Disney+ streaming service on the house.
Verizon has confirmed that customers who pre-purchased a Disney+ subscription can still take advantage of the free one-year offer. Pre-purchased Disney+ subscriptions will effectively be paused while the one-year free offer is in effect, and then kick in after the 12-month period is over.
The move should also help Disney secure immediate subscribers within the first year of the streaming service’s launch, which is a crucial period for the company. Disney has forecasted that it should net about 13 million subscribers in the US by the end of 2020, with a focus on expanding globally at an accelerated rate.
This makes Verizon the exclusive Disney+ carrier, and it could help Disney+ better compete with Apple TV+, which launches on November 1st. Apple recently announced that anyone who buys an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac will get a free one-year subscription to its service. Disney doesn’t have its own hardware to bundle subscriptions with, but this partnership with Verizon might be the next best thing.
Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne earlier this year said he expects Disney to sign up 13 million subscribers by the end of next year. If all goes according to plan, Disney could have as many as 130 million subscribers across its various video services by 2024, Swinburne added in his note to investors.
The Verizon promotion will arrive in tandem with the launch of Disney+ on November 12 although exact details on how to redeem the offer haven’t been shared.
