Disney+'s dramatic launch of ESPN sports content during March appears to have paid immediate dividends, with market penetration and share both reaching their highest levels on record.
Market share for Disney+ climbed from 9.7% in February, to 11.1% for the month of April 2025. Meanwhile, market penetration moved from 11.5% to 14.1%. The addition of ESPN content was designed to improve frequency of viewing as well as opening a new audience segment, and that seems to have worked.
Sports rights and their transition from Free-to-Air to streaming services continues to be a hot topic, with Nine Entertainment Co recently discussing the evolution of live sport on Stan and flagging its general interest in Formula 1 Racing rights during last week's Macquarie Conference.
Notably, the Subscription TV category grew overall during April, with 63% of the population paying for at least one streaming service, also a record. Subscription TV customer subscribed to at least 2 services, spending $42 (in total) on average.
Note: Apple TV is not under measure and so is excluded from the analysis and calculation of market share.
