Gay groomers incorporated is taking it up the ass financially.
Disneys recent tumble in streaming subscribers for Disney+ continued
according to fiscal third quarter earnings released Wednesday. In fact,
they got much worse. But the restructuring under CEO Bob Iger in the eight
months since he returned to his old job also led to some upsides, with
streaming losses and overall company losses narrowing, thanks in part to
austere job reductions over the past few months.
On a conference call with analysts, Iger identified three growth areas for
the futurefilm studios, parks and streamingand noted the synergy between
them that shows promise for the future, such as excitement over the
theatrical release of the third Guardians of the Galaxy film also sparking
higher engagement with the first two films on Disney+.
But as other streamers are also experiencing, streaming can be a money pit
with high costs for content and marketing to launch the service. Like
Peacock and ParamountPARA +0.4%, Disney has focused on decreasing losses
as Disney+ matures, and it worked in second quarter, with streaming losses
down to $512 million, down from $1.06 billion a year earlier.
Subscribers saw a considerable decline. Disney+ subscriptions fell from
157.8 million worldwide to 146.1 million, a loss of 11.7 million more
than doubling last quarters record decline, and it included a decrease of
300,000 in the U.S. and Canada where subscribers fell to 46 million. Its
just the second time Disney+ has taken a hit in North America; last
quarter was the first.
Disney Hotstar Responsible For Most Streaming Losses
The bulk of the subscription loss came in India, where Disney+ Hotstar
dropped by 24%, going from 52.9 million to 40.4 million. This drop was
expected. Disney lost the rights to a critical cricket league in India,
Indian Premier League with Viacom18, a joint venture of Viacom and Indias
Reliance Industries, picking up those rights for a hefty $2.6 billion.
Since losing IPL rights, Disney+ Hotstar has seen subscriptions plummet as
cricket fans cancel, which is hurting its overall numbersabout a third of
Disney+ total subscribers had been in India.
If you take Disney+ Hotstar out of the equation, international streaming
subscriptions were actually up by 1 million.
Total Hulu and ESPN+ subscribers were about the same from quarter to
quarter.
Price Bumps For Disney+ And Hulu
Iger admitted that pricing remains a work in progress for Disney+. The
streaming service will add another $3 price increase to its monthly fee
for its ad-free tier, charging users $13.99 starting October 12.
We grew this business really fast, before we really understood what our
pricing strategy should be or could be, Iger said.
Hulu without ads will rise $14.99 per month to $17.99 per month
Narrowing Losses For Streaming
Streaming losses continued to narrow after a $400 million decrease in
streaming losses last quarter. That helped Disney as a whole also narrow
its losses, from $1.41 billion last year to $460 million this quarter.
The narrowed losses for streaming reflected several strategies Iger has
enacted. Marketing spend on streaming has decreasedbrand awareness is
high four years after the services launch, so this makes sense. Iger has
cut thousands of jobs across Disney, which has also helped narrow losses.
Plus, Disney+ has raised prices in almost 50 countries internationally,
making up for some of those subscriber losses.
Iger said Disney+ will expand its ad-supported tier to Canada on Nov. 1.
Disney+ Joining NetflixNFLX +0.3% In Password Crackdown
Another concern for Disney+ (and all streaming services) is password
sharing, which happens when people give their passwords to friends and
family who dont live in the same household, allowing others access to the
content without purchasing a subscription.
Netflix has claimed a vast number of people avoid paying for subscriptions
in this way, and it began rolling out international and then domestic ways
to fight the problem over the past year. Disney+ now plans to do the same,
though Iger declined to give details on the plans.
Its significant, Iger said of the impact of password sharing on Disney+
subscriptions. We dont know how much of the password sharing, as we
eliminate it, will relate to growth in subscriptions.
He said the company will begin focusing on password sharing crackdown in
2024 and noted executives see it as a real chance to grow our business.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonifitzgerald/2023/08/09/new-record-for-
disney-sheds-117-million-subscribers-password-crackdown-
coming/?sh=22e3d0461d7b