Disney overtakes Netflix in number of pay-TV subscribers

Disney is emerging victorious from the fierce battle for on-demand television customers. While Warner is merging HBO Max with Discovery+ and Netflix is ​​suffering subscriber loss for the first time since its founding, Disney has beaten analysts’ forecasts and become the new pay-TV king by number of subscribers. The company announced this Wednesday that its three services, Disney, ESPN + and Hulu, already have 221.1 million subscribers worldwide, compared to 220.67 million Netflix at the end of the first half.

“We have had an excellent quarter, with our world-class creative and commercial teams driving extraordinary performance in our domestic theme parks, large increases in live sports viewership and significant subscriber growth on our streaming services. streaming. With the 14.4 million Disney+ subscribers added in the third fiscal quarter, we now have 221 million total subscriptions through our Disney+ offerings. streaming”, Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said through a statement.

The offers of both groups are not entirely comparable. Netflix has a unique service, even the one that brings together the most subscribers, while Disney adds different services and platforms. The company has indicated that Disney + has 152.1 million subscribers after raising its number by 31% in one year, thanks mainly to the pull outside the United States. ESPN+, specialized in Sports and which broadcasts LaLiga matches in the United States, has grown 53% in one year and already has 22.8 million subscribers. For its part, Hulu, which mainly broadcasts series, grew 8% and has 46.2 million subscribers.

Leadership, however, can be fleeting. The subscriber figure includes 58.4 million subscribers to its Disney + Hotstar service, from India, but the company has lost the broadcasting rights to the cricket competition, the king sport of the country, and analysts believe that it can cost millions of subscriber drops.

Low revenue per subscriber

Disney has low revenue per subscriber on some of those offerings. ESPN+, for example, only earns an average of $4.55 per customer, and Disney+ only $4.35 per subscriber on average, including its ultra-cheap service in India, which brings in just $1.20 per month per customer. In the United States, the average income exceeds 6 dollars. Even so, the company has decided to raise the prices in the United States for both Disney + and Hulu. Previously, he had already announced an increase in ESPN +.

The company restructures its offer in the United States. It has set a date for the launch of its low-cost version of Disney +, financed with advertising. It will be launched on December 8 and will be priced at $7.99 per month, which was previously the ad-free version, which now goes to $10.99 per month. Hulu raises its price from $13.99 to $14.99 per month, although a basic version with ads will be available for $7.99. Users can also hire a package that combines Disney +, ESPN + and Hulu for $19.99 per month, a price that remains the same, but a basic version with advertising is also introduced at $12.99 per month that allows you to watch all three services.

TV platforms are looking for new sources of revenue and ad-supported services are an opportunity for this. Both Warner (HBO MAx and Discovery) and Netflix have announced that they are studying launching offers of this type, either free with a more limited offer or at a lower cost that is complemented by the sale of advertisements. Each one of them seeks its own strategy, but Disney has taken a step forward with a closed proposal.

Not only the television business has brought joy to Disney. Theme park revenues have also skyrocketed as the pandemic has been overcome. At Disneyland Paris, pre-pandemic revenue levels have already been exceeded, the company announced in a presentation to analysts. For their part, Doctor Strange and Thor, the group’s two big releases, both from the Marvel franchise, are boosting the results of the film production business.

As a whole, Disney’s income has grown by 26% year-on-year in the third quarter of its fiscal year (second of the calendar year), to 21,504 million dollars (about 20,900 million euros) and profit has shot up 53% up to 1,504 million dollars, as reported by the company. The company’s shares appreciate strongly outside of normal open market hours.

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