Following an October 12 price increase, the core Disney+ streaming service lost 1.3 million subscribers, the company revealed on Wednesday. Not including India’s Hotstar, Disney+ ended the 2023 calendar year with 111.3 million subscribers.
Though subscriber numbers decreased, the rate increase at ad-free grew Disney+ ARPU (average revenue per user) by 14 cents. Growth was even greater in the U.S. and Canada, where the ARPU rose by 25 cents to $8.15. For Disney, October-December represented the first fiscal quarter of 2024.
Hulu, which was also subject to a rate increase on its own ad-free tier, managed to add some members in the quarter. Its ARPU also increased; the SVOD-only version grew its revenue per subscriber. Hulu now has 49.7 million subs.
Like Hulu, Disney+ Hotstar membership rose by 2 percent in the quarter. The Hotstar service now has 38.3 million subscribers; ESPN+ has 25.2 million subs.
One quarter earlier (Q4 2023, for Disney), the core Disney+ service added 6.9 million subs. Disney on Wednesday said it expects Disney+ (not including Hotstar) to add between 5.5 and 6 million subs from January to March.
Disney’s direct-to-consumer business lost a total of $138 million from October to December. It lost $387 million in the previous quarter, so things are certainly improving. Disney CEO Bob Iger has previously said Disney+ will be profitable by the final quarter of the company’s fiscal 2024, a position the company reiterated on…
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The post “Disney+ Lost More Than 1 Million Subscribers After Increasing Prices – IndieWire” by Tony Maglio was published on 02/07/2024 by www.indiewire.com