Just a few weeks ago, Netflix reported that, for the first time in over a decade, its subscriber count had dropped. This seemed to cause a scare in the streaming industry, potentially hinting that the streaming wars could be coming to a close. However, the latest subscribers from Disney seem to indicate quite the opposite.
In a quarterly earnings call Tuesday, Disney announced that it had exceeded Wall Street’s forecast and added nearly 8 million subscribers to its platform Disney+ in the last few months. This means that the streamer now boasts 137.7 million subscribers. Initially, it was believed that the company would gain a mere 4-5 million new subscribers.
Additionally, the company’s other platforms – Hulu and ESPN+ – added 300,000 and 1 million more subscribers to reach a respective subscriber count of 45.6 million and 22.3 million.
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The company also reported a total income of $3.7 billion (with a B), and a revenue of $19.2 billion. For those unfamiliar with the difference, the former is pure profit, while the latter is only money generated by the sale of goods.
While it seems like a lot of money, it’s only sure to continue to grow as the company still has plans to roll out an ad-supported version of its infant streaming service.
Chapek, who appeared on the call despite recent backlash regarding Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, said “The [option] is going to give us the ability to adjust our price while maintaining our strong value position.We believe that great content is going to drive our subs, and that greater subs will drive profitability.”
