During an earnings call Wednesday evening, Disney CEO Bob Iger shed some light on Disney+’s ad tier, revealing that, as of the end of Q3, the ad-supported plan has added 3.3 million subscribers since launching in December. And according to the CEO, 40% of new Disney+ subscribers are choosing an ad-supported product. (Adweek)
Subscriber losses continued over the last three months, with the company reporting 146.1 million Disney+ subscribers during the most recent quarter, a 7.4% decline from the previous quarter and a larger loss than Wall Street expected. The majority of subscriber losses came from Disney+ Hotstar, where the company saw a 24% drop in users after it lost out on the rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches. (CNBC)
Disney’s streaming operation lost $512 million in the most-recent quarter, the company said, bringing total streaming losses since 2019, when Disney+ was introduced, to more than $11 billion. (NYT)
Disney is hiking prices for its Disney+ streaming service again. The streaming service’s ad-free subscription will cost $13.99 beginning Oct. 12, an increase of $3 per month. Disney owns a majority stake in Hulu, which will also see prices go up in October: its ad-free offering will rise $3 to $17.99. An new ad-free package of Disney+ and Hulu will cost $19.99. (CNN)
Much of Disney’s bottom-line issues come as the legacy media sector grapples with a decline in the popularity of linear television: Its $1.1 billion in operating profit for its media and entertainment unit during the first three months of 2023 was down from $1.9 billion the year prior and nearly $3 billion five years ago. (Forbes)
“It is my fervent hope that we quickly find solutions to the issues that have kept us apart these past few months,” Iger said about the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strike. “And I am personally committed to working to achieve this result.” The words and tone of the CEO represent a drastic shift from what he said dismissively about the WGA strike and the then-looming actors strike just a month ago. (Deadline)