Disney has announced its latest quarterly financial results and revealed that Disney+ now has 95 million subscribers worldwide as of January 2nd 2021.  During the upcoming investor’s call event taking place today, sometimes an updated number is revealed.

(UPDATE: Disney will only update subscriber numbers as part of the quarterly results and when certain milestones are met)

During December’s Investors Day event, it was revealed that Disney+ had 86.8 million subscribers globally, so over the Christmas and New Year period, they were able to add 8 million subscribers in just one month.

In a press statement, Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company said:

“We believe the strategic actions we’re taking to transform our Company will fuel our growth and enhance shareholder value, as demonstrated by the incredible strides we’ve made in our DTC business, reaching more than 146 million total paid subscriptions across our streaming services at the end of the quarter.  We’re confident that, with our robust pipeline of exceptional, high-quality content and the upcoming launch of our new Star-branded international general entertainment offering, we are well-positioned to achieve even greater success going forward.”

The success of Disney+ will no doubt be down to a strong line-up of adding Pixar’s “Soul” and the last few episodes of “Star Wars: The Mandalorian”.  The addition of “Star”, which is coming to Disney+ in a number of regions including Europe, Australia and Canada, will help increase subscribers in that region, along with the launch in Singapore.

During the previous Investors Day event, it was revealed that Disney+ is expected to reach 230 million to 260 million total paid subscribers by September 2024.

The Walt Disney Company announced more details regarding its direct to consumer business a statement below:

Direct-to-Consumer revenues for the quarter increased 73% to $3.5 billion and operating loss decreased from $1.1 billion to $466 million. The decrease in operating loss was due to improved results at Hulu, and to a lesser extent, at Disney+ and ESPN+.

The increase at Hulu was due to subscriber growth and increased advertising revenues driven by higher impressions, partially offset by an increase in programming and production costs due to higher subscriber-based fees for programming the live television service.

The improvement at Disney+ was driven by an increase in subscribers, partially offset by higher programming and production cost amortization and increased marketing and technology costs. The increases in subscribers and costs reflected the ongoing expansion of Disney+ including launching in additional markets. The current quarter included three months of Disney+ operations whereas the prior-year quarter included two months.

Higher results at ESPN+ were driven by subscriber growth, partially offset by higher sports programming costs.

The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for Disney+ decreased from $5.56 to $4.03 due to the launch of Disney+ Hotstar.

The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for ESPN+ increased from $4.44 to $4.48 due to an increase in retail pricing, partially offset by a higher mix of subscribers to the bundled offering available in the U.S.

The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for the Hulu SVOD Only service increased from $13.15 to $13.51 due to higher per-subscriber advertising revenue, a lower mix of wholesale subscribers and an increase in per-subscriber premium and feature add-on revenue. These increases were partially offset by a higher mix of subscribers to the bundled offering. The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for the Hulu Live TV + SVOD service increased from $59.47 to $75.11 due to increases in retail pricing, higher per-subscriber advertising revenue and an increase in per-subscriber premium and feature add-on revenue. These increases were partially offset by a higher mix of subscribers to the bundled offering.

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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