Disney CEO Bob Iger has shared that improving streaming at Disney was his number one priority, and we’ve seen significant changes since his return.
©Disney
But, just how close is Iger to achieving his goal of making streaming profitable? We learned quite a bit during Disney’s most recent earnings call — including the not-so-great news that Disney+ had lost 1.3 million core subscribers over the last quarter. And yet, Iger doesn’t seem to be worried at all — here’s why.
During the Walt Disney Company Q1 earnings call on February 7th, 2024, CEO Bob Iger shared some insight on his “number one priority” — improving the streaming business.
©Disney
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. But, 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.”
©Disney
Even though Disney+ lost subscribers, Iger still doesn’t seem to be too worried about it — here’s why.
Password Sharing Crackdown
Disney had previously announced a crackdown on password sharing between households for Disney+, but Disney shared a bit more on how they plan to enforce it. Disney will actively start cracking down on account holders who share their account passwords with folks who do not live in the same household.
©Hulu
The streaming platform was originally meant to be shared between devices including your television, iPad, computer, and phone, but it’s possible people were taking advantage of that. With people no longer sharing accounts, this could lead to an increase in new subscribers.
Learn More About the Password Sharing Updates Here
ESPN Improvements
Disney also recently announced that it would be starting a NEW streaming service for sports assets that’ll combine content from ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. This service will be available to ESPN+, Hulu, and Max subscribers, and each company will own one-third of the product.
©ESPN
The full suite of ESPN’s channels will become a standalone and highly interactive streaming destination in Fall 2025. This will include ESPN Bet, ESPN’s sportsbook betting service that debuted in 2023.
Read More About the NEW ESPN Streaming Service Here
Price Hikes
While we didn’t hear any updates on impending price increases for Disney+ or Hulu during this earnings call, we did recently just see a hike in October 2023. The ad-free tier of Disney+ rose to $13.99 per month and the cost of Hulu without commercials increased to $17.99 per month.
©Disney
These price hikes, combined with the introduction of ads to the Disney+ platform are likely rather key reasons as to why Disney+ is still predicted to reach profitability by the end of Q4 of fiscal year 2024. Disney shared, “We expect Disney+ Core subscriber net additions of between 5.5 and 6 million and ongoing positive momentum in ARPU in the second quarter.”
According to Disney, streaming is on track to become profitable by the end of Q4 2024 — a goal that was set when the service first rolled out in 2019.
©Apple
Some experts have predicted that Iger’s obsession with streaming will pay off in 2024, possibly even with the acquisition of streaming rights to 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.
©Disney | Walt Disney Company Headquarters
We’ll continue to keep an eye on more Disney+ subscriber news and the latest updates from Disney, so stay tuned to DFB for more!
See ALL the News You Missed from Disney’s Latest Earnings Call Here
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I think it’s got to the point where people are having to choose the streaming platforms they want to keep, when Disney+ released it fell nicely in the lower cost bracket compared to others out there and in the last 2 years it’s shot up into the expensive bracket which means for a lot of people it’s an either/or for the likes of Netflix.
Disney+ is not putting out enough quality content for me to keep it now so I’ll probably just activate it for 2-3 months a year to binge what is available at the time. I recently cancelled my yearly subscription and since getting in in 2020 the subscription had gone up 275% in 4 years.