Disney+ loses 4m subscribers amid exodus in Indian market
Disney, known for Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel movies, said its flagship streaming service lost 4 million subscribers in the first three months of the year.
Subscribers to Disney+ services, home to movies such as Toy Story, Monsters, Thor and Black Panther, fell to nearly 158m from January to March, the second quarter of customer losses after a 2.4 million drop in the previous three months. Analysts had expected Disney+ to add more than 1 million customers in the quarter. The shares fell nearly 5% in after-hours trading.
Most of the lost subscribers came from Disney+ Hotstar in India after the company lost streaming rights to Premier League cricket matches. Disney also lost 300,000 customers in the US and Canada, after raising subscription prices in December.
The number of UK households subscribing to Disney+ has steadily increased in recent years, climbing above 7 million customers at the end of last year, which compares with industry leader Netflix’s 17 million subscribers in the UK, according to the viewer research organisation Barb. Disney+ costs £7.99 a month in the UK, or a yearly fee of £79.90.
All major streaming services have been losing customers as the pandemic boom fades and the cost of living crisis hits. British households stopped paying for almost 170,000 streaming services at the start of the year in a post-Christmas “subscription cull,” according to the research firm Kantar.
At the same time, Disney’s streaming business reported a better financial performance. It reduced its operating losses to $659m (£523m), from $1.1bn a year earlier, after price increases and reduced spending on marketing.
Disney’s theme parks fared better, as higher visitor numbers in Shanghai, Paris and Hong Kong lifted operating income at
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