One year ago, Bob Iger and Walt Disney Co. launched their flagship streaming service Disney+ with the intent of building a modern entertainment company that could dominate the fast-changing industry well into the future.

Then the rest of Mickey's universe went dark.

For much of the last year, the Burbank colossus has faced the biggest challenge of its nearly 100-year history. The COVID-19 pandemic closed its parks, halted its cruise lines, delayed its movies, stopped its productions and canceled live sports. Tens of thousands of employees were laid off, mostly at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World, but also at retail stores, ESPN and its movies business.

The company posted a net loss of $2.8 billion for the 2020 fiscal year, plummeting from a profit of $10.4 billion a year earlier, Disney said in an earnings report earlier this month.

Since the coronavirus hit, Disney has accelerated its efforts to focus its business on streaming, which has been a bright spot during the pandemic. Last month, Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek, who replaced Iger in February, embarked on a major corporate restructuring to further prioritize creating content for its direct-to-consumer outlets, including Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.

The gamble on streaming has paid off in a big way so far. Disney+, which costs $7 a month on its own and $13 a month when bundled with Hulu and ESPN+, hit 73.7 million subscribers as of Oct. 3, up from about 60 million three months ago, the company said.

Hit shows including "The Mandalorian," set in the "Star Wars" universe, have helped propel Disney to the front of the pack in the industrywide race to challenge Netflix for online video dominance. Hulu now has 36.6 million subscribers, while ESPN+ tallies 10.3 million, Disney said.

"One year ago today, we launched Disney+, and it has quickly exceeded our highest expectations," Chapek said in a call with analysts.

Streaming leader Netflix has about 195 million global subscribers. AT&T recently said its new service HBO Max has seen 8.6 million activations since its May premiere, bringing HBO and HBO Max to a combined 38 million U.S. subscribers. NBCUniversal has said 22 million people have signed up for Peacock, which has a free ad-based tier, as well as a subscription level.

The effect of COVID-19 on Disney's other businesses has been stark.

Revenue for the fiscal year, which ended in early October, was $65.4 billion, down 6% from last year. The pandemic led to a $7.4-billion reduction in operating income during the year, the company said.

The segment that faced the most hardship in 2020 was, unsurprisingly, parks, experiences and products. Disney reported an $81 million operating loss for the year, compared with $6.76 billion in operating income in 2019.

With a lack of new theatrical film releases, the company's movie studio saw revenues fall 52% to $1.6 billion, while operating income plunged 61% to $419 million.

Disney's movie studio had to delay some major films, including "Black Widow" and "West Side Story" and sent others straight to Disney+ ("Soul" and "Mulan").

Disney released its "Mulan" remake for a $30 video-on-demand purchase through Disney+ in September. Though Disney did not disclose sales figures for the big-budget title, Chapek said he was "very pleased" with the results and that there's "going to be a role" for the strategy in the future.

While Disney+ has posted strong results so far, analysts say the service needs more content to keep subscribers interested.