Disney overtakes Netflix as world’s largest streaming operator

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Disney has overtaken Netflix as the world’s largest streaming operator and shared launch and pricing plans for its upcoming ad-supported Disney+ tier.

In its Q3 2022 earnings, the company revealed that it had a total of 221.1 million streaming customers globally, overtaking Netflix’s total of 220.67 million worldwide.

The company added 14.4 million Disney+ subscribers, beating analyst expectations of 10 million due to the pull of originals such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and hotly anticipated feature films including Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. Disney+ (excluding the Asian market-oriented Disney+ Hotstar) was at a total of 93.6 million subscribers, while Disney+ Hotstar was at 58.4 million for a total Disney+ base of 152.1 million.

Sports streamer ESPN+ saw the largest proportional year-over-year growth of 53% from 39.1 million in Q3 2021 to 42.2 million today. Hulu meanwhile increased by 8% in the same period to 46.2 million.

Disney will also be buoyed by ARPU growth in all areas aside from Disney+ in the US and Canada and Hulu’s SVOD-only options. The largest ARPU growth was for Disney+ Hotstar, which increased 54% year-over-year to US$1.20 ARPU, attributed to higher per-subscriber advertising revenue.

ARPU decreases in the US and Canada along with increasing content production costs has seen Disney announce steep price increases for Disney+ and Hulu in those markets.

Ad-supported plans

Disney+ will increase from $7.99 per month to $10.99 per month, with the company also revealing that a $7.99 per month ad-supported tier will launch on 8 December. Hulu’s ad-free tier will increase from $12.99 per month to $14.99 per month, with the ad-supported version increasing by a dollar to $7.99 per month. The company previously announced a 43% price hike for ESPN+ to $9.99 per month.

Accompanying these will be a price increase for Disney’s streaming bundle of all three services, which includes ad-free Disney+, ad-supported Hulu and ESPN+ and will increase from $13.99 per month to $14.99. Disney is also introducing a bundle of Disney+ and Hulu with ads for $9.99 per month, and a top-tier $19.99 per month offer of Disney+, Hulu (without ads) and ESPN+ (with ads).

Disney’s DTC revenues increased by 19% to $5.1bn, while operating loss increased to $1.1bn as a result of higher losses at Disney+ and ESPN+ and lower operating income at Hulu.

Elsewhere, Disney’s overall media and entertainment distribution revenues increased by 11% year-over-year for a total of $14.1bn. Linear continues to draw more money for the company than DTC, but grew at a smaller rate of 3% year-over-year to $7.19bn.

Disney’s parks segment saw a huge 70% increase in revenues year-over-year to $7.39bn.

Commenting on the results, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said: “We had an excellent quarter, with our world-class creative and business teams powering outstanding performance at our domestic theme parks, big increases in live-sports viewership, and significant subscriber growth at our streaming services. With 14.4 million Disney+ subscribers added in the fiscal third quarter, we now have 221 million total subscriptions across our streaming offerings.

“We continue to transform entertainment as we near our second century, with compelling new storytelling across our many platforms and unique immersive physical experiences that exceed guest expectations, all of which are reflected in our strong operating results this quarter.”