Netflix has received bad news in recent weeks and to this streak is added the news of Disney + , who now reported more payment accounts than those of the Los Gatos, California company.
According to Walt Disney’s quarterly report, the streaming service reached a total of 221.1 million subscribers . With this figure, the digital platform surpasses Netflix for the first time, which has 220.6 million users. It should be noted that the numbers of the entertainment company refer to Disney +, ESPN and Hulu (including Live TV).
In addition, the crisis in these companies has caused the shares of streaming companies to have lost 35% since the beginning of the year, which has meant total losses of 380,000 million dollars in market capitalization.
While gaining subscribers announce new prices
Disney announced that it is raising the price of its Hulu subscription . The ad-free tier will increase from $12.99 a month to $14.99, while the ad-supported version will cost $7.99, up from $6.99.
The new price will take effect on October 10 in the United States, so it is not known if there will be changes in prices from other parts of the world on its Disney + service.
A price increase for the unbundled ESPN Plus feed was announced in July, bringing the monthly price to $9.99 per month.
Price increases also affect combo plans. Users with an ad-free Disney+ subscription along with an ad-supported plan for Hulu and ESPN Plus will jump from $13.99 to $14.99 per month.
Last quarter, Disney reported adding 8 million new Disney+ subscribers around the same time Netflix announced a subscriber decline for the first time in a decade.
Now Disney CEO Bob Chapek says he added 14.4 million customers to Disney+ in the third quarter for a total of 152 million and 221 million across all his services; At the same time, however, its direct-to-consumer division, which includes streaming units, lost more money than in previous years.
According to Disney, rising production and programming costs on Disney+ and higher costs for sports programming on ESPN Plus contributed to the losses.
“We remain confident that Disney Plus will achieve profitability in fiscal 2024,” Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said during the call.
