News Disney+ Sheds 4 Million Subscribers in Second Straight Quarterly Drop,

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Disney+ Sheds 4 Million Subscribers in Second Straight Quarterly Drop, Streaming Losses Narrow by 26%

Disney+ shed another 4 million subscribers in the first three months of 2023, marking the streamer’s second consecutive quarterly drop after closing 2022 with its first-ever decline. On the b…

variety.com

 

[neil]

Who honestly thought the Star Wars and Marvel bubbles would ever burst

 

[Catsylvania]

Disney has me for the rest of the year as I got the 12-month Hulu bundle. I staunchly refuse to go to movie theaters since I’m paying for like four streaming services. Like why would I go a place? Food, video games, and streaming are in my house.

Removing content is pretty crummy though.

 

[EvilChameleon]

Disney has me for the rest of the year as I got the 12-month Hulu bundle.

I have that bundle and I'm still thinking of cancelling and moving the $5 a month over the Paramount+ with ads, since they have so much live soccer content it's unreal.
Only thing keeping me second guessing is Doctor Who coming to Disney+, but even then, I'm sure it'll still be sold as a season pass on sites like Amazon and the like.

 

[Lugia667]

Microsoft needs to pay very close attention, this is what can happen if gamepass ever goes wrong

 

[Chie]

Who honestly thought the Star Wars and Marvel bubbles would ever burst

Even in the best of times relying on two ips to carry their service was madness. Even if they are popular putting all your eggs into two baskets is silly. If someone doesn't care about either they have no reason to subscribe.

 

[curl-6]

Not surprised, they're milking star wars and marvel too hard and the quality of their films has really gone downhill, especially all these awful remakes.

 

[robertman2]

Most of these lost subscribers are from India, since Disney+ lost cricket rights over there. Domestic subs only fell by 300,000k in the US, and it was likely due to price hikes

 

[xghost777]

Disney+ really feels like just Marvel and Star Wars with Disney/Pixar a distant third and everything else dead last to its huge detriment. It needs more stuff, not less on it :/ I still haven’t returned to movie theaters since the pandemic, but I can easily justify Disney+ at the moment that if my family went and saw like three of their films a year it’d be more expensive than Disney+. That said, it’s my least favorite streaming service otherwise. It just feels like there is so little to it even though I know it has some other stuff on it, it’s all buried.

 

[Gay Bowser]

Most of these lost subscribers are from India, since Disney+ lost cricket rights over there. Domestic subs only fell by 300,000k in the US, and it was likely due to price hikes

Let’s not let facts get in the way of our narrative, though.

Microsoft needs to pay very close attention, this is what can happen if gamepass ever goes wrong

Microsoft would kill to have Game Pass be anywhere near as successful as Disney+, and I say that as someone who is quite bullish on Game Pass.

 

[robertman2]

Microsoft needs to pay very close attention, this is what can happen if gamepass ever goes wrong

they've missed subscriber targets multiple times iirc, it's already happening

 

[Koyota]

Like why would I go a place?

There is something about going to a place that makes it feel special,
Takes you out of this world and lets you just relax be / immersed in the movie.

Watching the stuff at home I start going
"Oh I should be cleaning, Oh I need to check my phone for any news or Social Media" "Oh Look, there is my Gamecube, I should play a retro game, I haven`t played in a while yeah"

 

[robertman2]

Most of these lost subscribers are from India, since Disney+ lost cricket rights over there. Domestic subs only fell by 300,000k in the US, and it was likely due to price hikes

They also HBO shows, apparently

 

[Gay Bowser]

they've missed subscriber targets multiple times iirc, it's already happening

Microsoft doesn’t make forward-looking statements on expected subscriber targets for Game Pass, nor do they provide regularly scheduled updates on their Game Pass subscriber count. Nadella gets a bonus if Game Pass hits certain growth thresholds, but that’s not really the same thing as a stated subscriber target. The SEC filings related to that bonus do give us at least one annual update on their rate of growth for Game Pass, though (last FY it was +28% YOY).

At their last announcement in January 2022, they said they had 25M subscribers. They’ve since said the rate of growth for Game Pass on console has slowed somewhat from its rate of growth during the pandemic, and that Game Pass on PC is now growing faster than Game Pass on console. That’s pretty much all their official information on the matter. As with Amazon and Apple’s services, they’re treating it like a black box and only announcing updates on subscriber growth when it suits them.

 

[Phosphorescent Skeleton]

Nice!

 

[Catsylvania]

There is something about going to a place that makes it feel special,
Takes you out of this world and lets you just relax be / immersed in the movie.

If I learned anything from a global pandemic, it’s that I really enjoy social distancing from people when watching movies. I also can’t take my cats to the movie theater.

 

[chocolate_supra]

There is something about going to a place that makes it feel special,
Takes you out of this world and lets you just relax be / immersed in the movie.

Watching the stuff at home I start going
"Oh I should be cleaning, Oh I need to check my phone for any news or Social Media" "Oh Look, there is my Gamecube, I should play a retro game, I haven`t played in a while yeah"

Same here. I almost never watch movies at home because I get disinterested and distracted really quickly. But the movie theater? That feels like church to me. It's borderline spiritual. I love being in the space, I love the experience, and it's one of the very very few situations I enjoy being around other people. I actually get pissed when I hear a movie I'd love to see is coming out and I get reeeal excited and then it's only coming to a streaming platform. Just takes the wind right out of my sails.

 

[Mekanos]

There is something about going to a place that makes it feel special,
Takes you out of this world and lets you just relax be / immersed in the movie.

Watching the stuff at home I start going
"Oh I should be cleaning, Oh I need to check my phone for any news or Social Media" "Oh Look, there is my Gamecube, I should play a retro game, I haven`t played in a while yeah"

James Cameron

had a great point about how being in a theater forces you to actually watch the movie. Can't look at your phone or do other things. Couldn't agree more. I go out of my way to watch screenings of old movies at the theater. It's just a great experience and something I'll always do if I can.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

Lol, removing content to cheat people out of their residuals, right out of the Zaslav book. Fuck this.

 

[PixelKnight]

I was wondering about the total number of subscribers to put it in context (I don’t really follow Disney).

Disney ended the quarter with 157.8 million subscribers at Disney+, significantly missing Wall Street's estimate of 163.17 million subs. That projected figured would have been up from the 161.8 million subs Disney+ fell to the prior quarter

That previous loss early this year-

Disney+ Drops 2.4 Million Subscribers in First Loss, Bob Iger Heralds ‘Significant Transformation’ Underway

Disney+ Drops 2.4 Million Subscribers in First Loss, Bob Iger Heralds ‘Significant Transformation’ Underway

Disney+ lost a net 2.4 million subscribers in the last three months of 2022 — marking the streaming service’s first decline since launching in late 2019 — while the Mouse House&#8…

variety.com

So let me get this straight. They drop 2.4m subs three months ago and the PR spin is ‘huge transformation underway’.
Then 3 months later, they have dropped a further 4m (double the forecast), and that ‘huge transformation’ turns out to be cuts in content offered. Is that about right?

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Who honestly thought the Star Wars and Marvel bubbles would ever burst

Nobody because they gained subscribers in most regions.

The drop is almost entirely because they lost the rights to streaming cricket in India. No, really.

 

[Gay Bowser]

So let me get this straight. They drop 2.4m subs three months ago and the PR spin is ‘huge transformation underway’.
Then 3 months later, they have dropped a further 4m (double the forecast), and that ‘huge transformation’ turns out to be cuts in content offered. Is that about right?

That previous quarter was one where they raised Disney+ prices significantly (nearly 40% in the US!) and honestly, that they only dropped 2.4M subs while doing so is pretty impressive.

The “huge transformation” isn’t cutting content, it’s merging Disney+ and Hulu, which is a transition that started with the addition of an ad-supported bundle with those two services for $9.99 in December and is continuing with Disney integrating Hulu into the Disney+ app later this year. (Disney only partially owns Hulu; they’re widely expected to buy out Comcast’s stake when they’re contractually allowed to next year, at which point Hulu will probably get fully absorbed into Disney+ and that $9.99 bundle will just be the base Disney+ plan.)

 

[PixelKnight]

That previous quarter was one where they raised Disney+ prices significantly (nearly 40% in the US!) and honestly, that they only dropped 2.4M subs while doing so is pretty impressive.

The “huge transformation” isn’t cutting content, it’s merging Disney+ and Hulu, which is a transition that started with the addition of an ad-supported bundle with those two services for $9.99 in December and is continuing with Disney integrating Hulu into the Disney+ app later this year. (Disney only partially owns Hulu; they’re widely expected to buy out Comcast’s stake when they’re contractually allowed to next year, at which point Hulu will probably get fully absorbed into Disney+ and that $9.99 bundle will just be the base Disney+ plan.)

Thanks for the wider context, much appreciated

 

[robertman2]

. I also can’t take my cats to the movie theater.

Skill issue tbh

 

[Monster Mash]

Lol, removing content to cheat people out of their residuals, right out of the Zaslav book. Fuck this.

A classic Disney move

 

[ProteusRidley]

I only have a subscription for easy access to its always sunny, simpsons and futurama.

So if any of that drops I'm out.