Is it time for panic at Disney+? The House of Mouse unveiled its fiscal third quarter earnings report on Wednesday and, as part of the report, revealed that Disney+ lost 11.7 million users between April and June, settling in at 146.1 global subscribers. Almost all of the losses came from subscribers in India who walked away when combined platform Disney+ Hotstar lost IPL cricket.
The subtractions are a worrying sign for Disney+, which marks its third straight quarter of decline. In the last three months of 2022, Disney+ lost 2.4 million subscribers, and in the first part of 2023 it lost another 4 million users.
Despite the losses, Disney+ remains the leading streaming platform in India.
Domestically, Disney+ lost 300,000 subscribers in its most recent quarter. It now stands at 46 million in the United States and Canada, and 100.1 million overseas.
While Disney is still figuring out how best to transition its streaming services into their next phase of life, it can be easy to claim more streaming customers than any company outside of Netflix. Netflix remains the biggest streamer in the world with 238.39 million users, followed by Disney+. Warner Bros. Discovery ranks third, with 95.8 million users worldwide between its two streamers Max and Discovery+. Paramount+ now has 61 million customers and Peacock brings up the rear of the major subscription video services with 24 million users. Neither Prime Video nor Apple TV+ publicly reveal subscriber numbers.
It’s been a transitional quarter for Disney when it comes to streaming. The company reaffirmed its commitment to buying the exceptional portion of Hulu it does not currently own from Comcast, and pledged to combine the two streamers into a “one app” experience. Executives also promised that a price increase would come to Disney+’s ad-free level at some point this year, though few details about the increase have yet been made public.
The price hike is part of Disney’s ongoing quest to make its streaming services profitable. It’s also why the company began pulling underperforming titles from Disney+ during the quarter, absorbing nearly $2 billion in impairment charges to depreciate content. Cuts are likely being made right now, but more could come in the future if Disney doesn’t see the financial results it wants from the cuts.
Internationally, Disney has been busy battling new regulations that it says will make it harder for streamers to do business. One such law is currently being debated in the UK, a bill that requires streamers to remain neutral when discussing sensitive political or social issues in shows and movies. Another bill making its way through parliamentary procedure in the UK drew a protest from Disney; this would require streamers to send regular reminders to customers that they are still subscribed and should expect to continue paying subscription fees. Disney has already halted production of Originals in Canada, possibly in part because of a new law governing streaming service operations in that country.
There was some good financial news for Disney+ during the quarter. Its ad-supported plan accounts for more than a third of new sign-ups to the service since its launch in December and tops Netflix’s plan with ads. The company also announced a new partnership with Apple that will see Disney+ integrated into the tech giant’s new augmented reality headset, which is expected to go on sale later this year.
As writers and cast continue to strike, Disney may have given some insight into its strategy to fill any programming gaps on linear channels this fall by sending episodes of “Ms. Marvel” to ABC in The company will have to be careful in doing so, however; the practice has led to legal action against former Disney+ executives, as the transfer of streaming originals to television allows the company to change its budgets. marketing and, therefore, potentially distorting its streaming success.