Disney+ claims to overtake Netflix in number of subscribers and prepares a price increase

221 million subscribers in less than three years of existence, where Netflix took 14 years, it seems a little too good to be true. Yet this is what Disney claims in its latest quarterly results. The big-eared company would therefore overtake its competitor Los Gatos, which has just had two quarters marked by customer losses, culminating for the moment at “only” 220.7 million. But there is a catch.

The mouse cheats a bit

First of all, contrary to what one might think, these figures are not those of Disney+. The latter alone has 152.1 million subscribers, an increase of 14.4 million compared to the previous three months. A very good score, of course, but far from the figures of the firm at N red. To reach 221 million, Disney adds to this result those of Hulu and ESPN +. And that’s not all.

Customers who have opted for a bundle, such as the one including these three services available across the Atlantic, are counted as three subscribers. This can be understood, but still comes down to counting a single individual as three separate people. From there to think that Disney is increasing its figures to overtake its main competitor, there is only one step.

Ads and a $3 raise

In any case, the main message when announcing these results was perhaps to be sought elsewhere. Because the company founded by Walt Disney also communicated on a very sensitive subject: its prices. At the end of the year, on December 8 in the United States to be precise, a new offer will land on Disney+ on the principle of AVoD, streaming supported by advertising. Generally, this type of formula comes in addition to other already existing ones for a lower price. Here, Disney made another choice.

The subscription with advertising will thus be offered at $7.99 monthly, which is the price of the classic subscription at the present time. (Bad) surprise: the latter will actually increase by $3, rising to $10.99 per month – a 38% increase, all the same. Hulu and ESPN+, which already have AVoD formulas, will also see their prices increase.

Disney continues to lose money

For the moment, these changes only concern the United States, it is not even known when the offer will be launched with advertising in Europe. If the American market is accustomed to this operation and to the abundance of advertisements in general, this is absolutely not the case of the old Continent, and in particular of France. We can therefore wonder if the firm with big ears will dare to increase its prices when launching the AVoD offer, even though an increase had already been made with the arrival of the more “mature” Star universe.

Despite growing subscription numbers, Disney is losing money with its streaming services, which explains these increases. Between them, Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ lost $1.1 billion in the third fiscal quarter, or $300 million more than analysts’ average estimate. The big-eared firm plans to continue losing cash until 2024. AVoD is one of the ways it could break even.