Disney CEO Bob Iger has many things he’s got to tackle before his time at Disney is up, but one thing in particular has been a huge focus for him — making streaming profitable.

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Iger previously indicated that improving streaming at Disney was his number one priority (though, since that time he has identified 4 big priorities at Disney — one of which is “achieving significant profit streaming”). So how is Iger coming along with that goal? Are things improving when it comes to Disney+ numbers or is there danger brewing in the Mouse House? Let’s find out.

Things were looking good for Disney at the end of the 2023 fiscal year. Iger indicated that Disney+ subscriber growth throughout the past quarter and 2023 as a whole beat estimates. If the trend continued, Disney would be on track to reach profitability in the fourth quarter of 2024.

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On February 7th, 2024, Disney held its earnings call (and released its earnings report) for the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year. With this report and call we learned some BIG news about Disney+.

Here’s a look at the revenue and losses for Disney’s streaming services:

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According to Disney’s report, revenue from Direct-to-Consumer platforms increased 15% year over year from $4,822 million to $5,546 million. In addition, operating losses decreased by 86%.

Disney stated that the decrease in operating loss came about due to price increases on subscriptions. In October 2023, the price for the ad-free tier of Disney+ rose to $13.99 per month. At the same time, Disney raised the cost of Hulu without commercials to $17.99 per month. 

With those pricing changes, Disney’s average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased by 9% domestically.

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Disney also stated that their advertising revenue increased “due to higher impressions across […] streaming services.” Those impressions increased due to the following factors:

• “Airing more hours of International Cricket Council (ICC) cricket programming compared to the prior-year quarter
• Growth of the U.S. ad-supported Disney+ service, which launched in December 2022
• More units delivered at Hulu
• A decrease in programming and production costs attributable to lower average costs per hour of non-sports content, partially offset by more non-sports programming, higher subscriber-based fees for programming the Hulu Live TV service and an increase in costs for ICC cricket programming”

What about subscriber numbers? At the end of the 2023 fiscal year, Disney+ Core had a total of 112.6 million subscribers, while Disney+ Hotstar had 37.6 million. Well, in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, Disney+ Core subscribers “decreased sequentially by 1.3 million,” which Disney reports is “in line with prior guidance and reflecting a substantial price increase in the quarter as well as the end of the global summer promotion.”

Hulu subscribers, however, increased by 1.2 million from the previous quarter.

Disney+ Billboard

Disney feels optimistic about the future, stating, “We expect Disney+ Core subscriber net additions of between 5.5 and 6 million and ongoing positive momentum in ARPU in the second quarter.”

Disney+ has been in the news quite a bit lately with the release of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the cancelation of some shows, the confirmation of a season 2 for Ahsoka, the release of new Bluey episodes, changes in terms of advertisements, and even its inclusion on the Apple Vision Pro. Plus, we’ve seen a beta launch of the Disney+ and Hulu one-app feature (an official launch is slated for early spring 2024). And Disney+ is working on password crackdowns too (along with Hulu).

But will it all be enough to reach profitability this fiscal year?

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Some analysts have predicted that Iger’s obsession with streaming, in general, will pay off in 2024, potentially with the acquisition of streaming rights to certain big things (like sporting events) or the creation of a significant streaming bundle. All that remains to be seen, but we’ll definitely be watching for updates.

Stay tuned for more updates about Disney+, streaming, and the future of the Walt Disney Company.

And click HERE to see EVERYTHING coming to Disney+ in February 2024

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Do you think Iger will be able to achieve his streaming goals at Disney? Tell us in the comments!