- Walt Disney has seen rapid growth with its streaming services in the most recent fiscal quarter.
- The on-demand services Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ had a combined total of around 221 million subscriptions at the end of June.
- Disney has thus caught up with the previous streaming market leader Netflix, which recently lost customers and also ended the past quarter with around 221 million user accounts.
“We had an excellent quarter,” announced Disney boss Bob Chapek when presenting the balance sheet. Disney+ and ESPN+ in particular flourished with annual growth rates of 31 and 53 percent, respectively, to a good 152 million and almost 23 million subscribers, respectively.
Still, the company had to lower its subscriber guidance for Disney+. The total number of Disney+ customers will be between 215 million and 245 million by the end of September 2024, Disney announced. That’s down from the 230 million to 260 million Disney previously forecast.
Legend:
Leading actress Iman Vellani at the premiere of “Ms. marvel»
REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
The reason for the reduced expectations is the loss of streaming rights for Indian Premier League cricket matches. However, the streaming unit remains committed to making a profit for the first time in fiscal 2024, said CFO Christine McCarthy.
Price increase and range expansion
The Disney+ streaming service, which was only launched in November 2019 as a Netflix hunter, gained 14.4 million customers in three months – significantly more than experts expected.
With the “Star Wars” series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and Marvel’s “Ms. Marvel » landed Disney + two big hits. Disney immediately used the strong demand for the streaming services to initiate sharp price increases. For example, the price for the standard ad-free subscription to Disney+ for customers in the US will increase by $3 to $10.99 per month on December 8th.
But Disney – like Netflix – wants to introduce a cheaper version with commercial breaks. This offer is said to cost $7.99 per month – as much as the ad-free subscription used to be. With Hulu, the price goes up by one to two dollars per month, depending on the subscription model. ESPN+ also recently announced a price increase in the US.
Legend:
Parade at Disney World in Orlando, Florida (USA)
REUTERS/Octavio Jones
Things were also going well financially for the entertainment empire, which also includes the classic cable division as well as film studios, theme parks, holiday resorts and cruise ships. Sales grew 26 percent year-on-year to $21.5 billion. Profit rose 53 percent to $1.4 billion (1.32 billion Swiss francs).
The quarterly figures significantly exceeded analysts’ expectations. The share initially reacted after the trading session with a price increase of more than four percent. Disney has recently had a difficult time on Wall Street – the share has been down 28 percent since the beginning of the year.