The Walt Disney Company has lowered its 2024 forecast for its Disney+ streaming service to 215 million to 245 million subscribers, down 15 million on both the low end and high end of the company’s previous guidance of 230-260m paid subscribers.
The House of Mouse’s expected downward revision has been directly attributed to the recent loss of Indian Premier League (IPL) digital rights, which was won by Reliance Industries Ltd-controlled Viacom18 for $2.98 billion (Rs 23,758 crore) after a heated bidding war.
In December 2020, Disney had also stated that Disney+ Hotstar was expected to contribute 30-40% (70 to 100 million) of Disney+’s projected paid subscriber base.
“We are, however, updating subscriber guidance for Disney+ Hotstar to up to 80 million subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024. We intend to refine this target over time as subscriber visibility in India will be clearer once the ICC and BCCI cricket rights sales processes are completed. As you may know, we recently made the disciplined decision to not proceed with the Indian Premier League digital rights and we’ll evaluate these rights with that same discipline (emphasis ours),” The Walt Disney Company senior EVP & CFO Christine McCarthy stated during the company’s Q3 earnings call Wednesday.
“Excluding the impact of any significant future macro headwinds, our core Disney+ subscriber target range is 135 million to 165 million by the end of fiscal 2024, largely consistent with previously provided guidance that non-Hotstar Disney+ subscribers in 2024 would approximate 60% to 70% of the expected 230 million to 260 million total subscriber base,” McCarthy further stated.
The company has however, reaffirmed its expectation that Disney+ will become profitable by the end of its fiscal 2024 year.
“As we sit here today, we remain confident that Disney+ will achieve profitability in fiscal 2024 and look forward to several upcoming catalysts including reaching a steady state of tentpole original content releases, delivery of premium general entertainment and international local originals and the upcoming launch of our ad-supported tier alongside the new pricing structure announced earlier today.”
Disney+ Hotstar added 8.3 million subscribers to take its total base to 58.4 million during the third quarter ended 2nd July 2022. “At Disney+ Hotstar subscribers increased by over eight million as the IPL concluded its 15th season in the quarter,” she noted.
Overall, Disney posted better-than-expected earnings on both the top and bottom line, bolstered by increased spending at its domestic theme parks, CNBC reports.
Earnings per share: $1.09 per share vs. 96 cents expected, according to a Refinitiv survey of analysts
Revenue: $21.5 billions vs. $20.96 billion expected, according to Refinitiv
Disney+ total subscriptions: 152.1 million vs 147.76 million expected, according to StreetAccount
