According to Yahoo Finance, Disney+ has welcomed 12.1 million new customers for the company’s fourth fiscal quarter ending on October 1st, which is 3 million higher than expert projections. Walt Disney gained 14.6 million subscriptions to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ in total, increasing the company’s overall number of streaming users to about 236 million. While Disney+, with 164 million customers, has yet to catch up to Netflix, all three of the company’s services combined have members that can compete with the streaming giants. During its most recent financial report in October, Netflix disclosed that it had about 223.09 million customers.
Despite the tremendous surge in subscriber numbers, Disney’s streaming operational loss climbed from $0.8 billion to $1.5 billion in the third quarter. Disney+ lost more money over the time as a result of greater production and technological expenditures, as well as an increase in marketing expenses. There were also no Premier Access releases for the quarter, such as Black Widow and Jungle Cruise from previous year. However, the losses were somewhat offset by increasing subscription prices, which will rise even more in December.
Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that the business expects its streaming losses will shrink in the future as a result of pricing hikes and the introduction of an ad-supported tier on Disney+. The business even anticipates that Disney+ will be profitable in the fiscal year 2024, assuming no “significant change in the economic situation.” As previously reported, Disney is hiking its streaming fees across the board this December, with the ad-supported tier of Disney+ debuting on December 8th for $11 per month.
