Bob Iger Reveals Disney+ Lost Millions Of Subscribers Last Year

Disney+ subscriptions are down!

During the company’s first quarterly investor call, CEO Bob Iger confirmed that in the last three months of 2022, approximately 2.4 million subscribers opted not to renew their plans. This marked the first time in nearly three years that the service saw a decline.

This did not impact the company’s overall earnings, however, as a surge in revenue at Disney’s theme parks ultimately helped to balance out the bottom line.

While the news is worrisome – and might lead some to worry about the future of streaming – Iger assured investors that there are plans to get things back on track. He said:

“After a solid first quarter, we are embarking on a significant transformation, one that will maximize the potential of our world-class creative teams and our unparalleled brands and franchises. We believe the work we are doing to reshape our company around creativity, while reducing expenses, will lead to sustained growth and profitability for our streaming business, better position us to weather future disruption and global economic challenges and deliver value for our shareholders.”

As our own Skyler Shuler points out, the drop isn’t really all that surprising considering that several Beta subscribers signed up for 3 year plans at D23 in 2019. He believes they ultimately decided not to renew those subscriptions.

For those unaware, Disney offered Disney+ for 3 years if you signed up during the D23 Expo. The offer began when Disney+ launched in Nov 2019 and expired Nov 2022. https://t.co/5K7HGAsXF3
— Skyler Shuler (@SkylerShuler) February 8, 2023

However, Iger attributed the decline in subscriptions to a decline in interest overseas, particularly in India and parts of Southeast Asia. Surprisingly, in the United States and Canada, there was an increase in subscriptions to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Disney netted 200,000 news subs (46.6 million total), Hulu netted 800,000 (48 million total), and ESPN netted 600,000 (24.9 total).

This is a developing story. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.