With Wall Street no longer being interested in subscriber growth or numbers, instead focusing on profitability, last year, Netflix announced that from 2025, it would no longer be reporting its subscriber numbers during its quarterly investor results.

While there won’t be regular updates on Netflix subscriber numbers, the company has said that it will announce “major subscriber milestones as they cross them”.

As you might expect, other streaming services are looking to do something similar, as during a recent interview with CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that Disney is likely going to be following Netflix’s lead in stopping its reporting of subscriber numbers on a quarterly basis for its streaming services, Disney+ and Hulu.

“Probably.  We’re focused on EBITDA and cash flow and growing margins, and that’s, in fact, what we’re doing. I think at some point, what we’re mostly going to disclose is the bottom line.”

At the last quarterly investor call in May, Disney announced that Disney+ has 126 million subscribers worldwide, and this number is expected to continue increasing in the coming months, driven by new bundle deals, promotions, and the launch of new original content.  

Currently, Disney continues to reveal the number of subscribers for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN each quarter. With Iger publicly discussing this, he is likely setting expectations for shareholders regarding this trend.  Though I also suspect Disney will follow Netflix’s lead in making announcements when certain milestones are met.  It might also help them adjust subscriber numbers when they eventually merge Hulu and Disney+, along with the launch of the new ESPN streaming service.

Not giving out the quarterly subscriber numbers also gives Disney a way of keeping bad news out of the limelight and avoiding headlines about losing subscribers, giving Disney more opportunities to spin positive numbers, which will likely also help their stock price go up.

What do you think of Disney potentially not disclosing its subscriber numbers?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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