Disney soars past 253 million streaming subscribers across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+

Disney reported over 235 million streaming subscribers on all platforms, as Disney+ beat Wall Street expectations by adding 12.1 million subscribers.

The additions increased the total to 164.2 million on Disney+, while other company platforms such as Hulu and ESPN+ also grew last quarter. 

Despite the gains, the company continues to lose in the streaming market, nearly doubling year-over-year to $1.47 billion. 

But CEO Bob Chapek says the losses from streaming have peaked, and the company will be back on the road to profitability in 2024. 

Disney+ plans to hike the prices of the service in December, and is planning an ad-supported tier which is expected to increase revenue.  

Overall, Disney raked in $20.1 billion in Q4, with an operating income of $1.6 billion. 

Despite streaming losses of $1.47 billion, Disney CEO Bob Chapek says the losses have peaked, and the company is back on the road to profitability in 2024 

The Disney bundle, which offers multiple platforms at a discount, forced the average revenue per user to fall at both Disney+ and Hulu 

Disney+ has kept subscribers and recruited new ones by consistently showing big titles such as those from the Marvel Universe

The Disney bundle, which offers multiple platforms at a discount, forced the average revenue per user to fall at both Disney+ and Hulu.

'The rapid growth of Disney+ in just three years since launch is a direct result of our strategic decision to invest heavily in creating incredible content and rolling out the service internationally,' said Chapek.

'By realigning our costs and realizing the benefits of price increases and our Disney+ ad-supported tier coming December 8, we believe we will be on the path to achieve a profitable streaming business that will drive continued growth and generate shareholder value,' he added.

Outside of the streaming world, Disney reported that its Parks, Experiences and Products division had a record year with $7.4 billion in revenue and a total of $28.7 billion for the fiscal year. 

The company also had lower content sales due to less theatrical film releases, which meant fewer movies to put into the home entertainment market. 

Netflix, which used to dominate the streaming space, counted 223 million subscribers according to the most recent tally. 

The Disney bundle, which offers multiple platforms at a discount, forced the average revenue per user to fall at both Disney+ and Hulu

Netflix launched a $6.99 ad-based subscription plan on Thursday, which features four to five minutes of ads per hour and excludes plenty of popular titles 

The loss of subscribers and revenue for the streaming titans has forced the service to introduce an advertisement tier for their subscribers.

They originally said an ad-based service would be introduced in 2023, but had to rush the introduction.  

Industry sources suspect the streaming giant introduced the ad version earlier than expected due to rival Disney+ adding an ad-based version starting December 8.

The new plan will have ads that run 15 to 30 seconds in length and will cost $6.99 a month. 

Some of the platform's most-watched shows, such as Arrested Development, House of Cards, Peaky Blinders, and The Good Place won't be available under the new plan -  which will feature four to five minutes of ads per hour.