Disney+ has finally hit the ball out of the park, thanks to its overall good performance in Q2 2024 despite some minor hiccups. The streaming service came into existence in 2019, but had not yet turned a profit until now. The conglomerate’s D2C entertainment division, which encompasses Hulu and Disney+, showed an operating income of $47 million in its Q2 earnings, a remarkable growth from the gigantic loss of $587 million the division endured nearly three years ago. In addition, Disney+ earned over 6 million new subscribers in the last quarter, taking its total number of subscribers to 117.6 million (excluding Disney+ Hotstar’s subscribers). However, Hotstar’s performance in the last quarter disappointed. Walt Disney follows an October to September FY as per the US’ fiscal year system.
The number of Disney+ Hotstar’s paid subscribers decreased from 38.3 million to 36 million, a 6% decrease from the previous quarter’s numbers. The lack of Hollywood content and JioCinema stealing viewership through the ongoing IPL season are some of the reasons behind Hotstar’s decreased subscriber base.
These figures arrive as Walt Disney prepares to merge its India unit with Reliance as part of its joint venture efforts, strengthening its competitiveness against the likes of Amazon Prime and Netflix. The merged entity is expected to have a gigantic valuation of $8.5 billion, with the RIL group holding a 63% stake in the new entity. According to a study from Bernstein, the merged entity may end up capturing nearly 85% of the country’s streaming lovers.
The number of Hulu subscribers increased to 50.2 million in Q2 2024, compared to last year’s value of 49.7 million. However, ESPN+’s subscribers base reduced by 2%, reaching 24.8 million in the last quarter. Overall, Disney’s revenue stood at $22.08 billion in the recent Q2 earnings. Stay tuned for more updates.