With this increased increase between March and June, the American streaming platform sees its total number of subscribers brought to 152 million. To further expand its base, it unveiled on Wednesday a new cheaper subscription formula but with advertising.
Le Monde with AFP
Spring 2022 will have been radiant for the streaming platform launched in 2019. Disney+ has, in fact, attracted 14.4 million new subscribers between March and June, bearing its total subscribers to 152 million. This attractiveness reassures a market worried about the risks of saturation of digital services, while the boom linked to the pandemic ended and consumers are faced with high inflation.
In all, all of the Disney group streaming platforms (Disney+, Hulu and Espn+ for Sport) now have 221 million subscribers, more than Netflix alone, the veteran of the sector, who saw Its number of paying subscribers drop, to 220.67 million at the end of June. To see even further increase its subscriber base, Disney+ unveiled a new cheaper subscription formula with advertising on Wednesday. 2>
massive investments that do not yet report
The American group Disney, which took more than 6 % on Wednesday after the fence, over one year, saw its turnover increased by 26 % over one year, reaching 21.5 billion dollars (20 , 83 billion euros) for the third quarter of his offbeat exercise.
Launched at the end of 2019 as a cannonball on the group’s streaming scene, the Disney+ platform now brings together more than 45 % of American streaming services, behind YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu (which belongs to Disney), according to figures from the company specializing in market studies Insider Intelligence.
The amusement parks and products derived from the group have benefited from the resumption of activities in person, as the pandemic loosen its vice on daily life in the world. The segment generated $ 7.4 billion in turnover, 70 % more than a year ago. Disney+ also took off during and after the pandemic, in particular thanks to its immense catalog and its successful franchises.
But the group’s massive investments are still far from reporting: during the past quarter, the three Disney streaming platforms dug their net losses of $ 1.1 billion.
“We remain confident in the fact that Disney+ will achieve profitability in 2024,” said Christine McCarthy, the group’s financial director, during a conference call with analyzes on Wednesday.
It nevertheless revised down certain objectives, tabling on 215 to 245 million subscribers for Disney+ in 2024 (including those of Hotstar, the Indian version of the site), 15 million less than previously announced.
a cheaper subscription but with advertising
During the current quarter, Bob Chapek, the owner of the American group, plans to bet on new programs to reach new customers, such as She-Hulk. Lawyer, the new series of Marvel studios, Andor, a Star Wars series, and the film Hocus Pocus 2 by Disney. He also promised, during his exchange with analysts, the upcoming arrival of a documentary series on BTS, the cult group of South Korean K-Pop.
The past quarter was marked by doubts about the growth of large entertainment platforms, from Netflix to Facebook via video games. Netflix thus lost nearly a million subscribers between March and June, after having already lost it in the first quarter, for the first time in its history.
Beyond the new content, the veteran of the sector and his fierce competitor now use different strategies to increase their subscribers and improve their profitability.
Disney+ unveiled on Wednesday a new subscription formula with advertising, for the United States, at 8 dollars per month, which will be offered from December. The one without advertising will increase to $ 11, $ 3 more than currently. The prices of Hulu will also rise.
Netflix, who is preparing a similar option after refusing this less popular solution for years, will also tighten the screw on the side of identifier sharing, which allow many people to access their content without subscribing a subscription .