Disney Just Dropped Some HUGE NEWS — See It All Here

Disney just dropped some huge updates and we’re telling you everything you need to know.

The Walt Disney Company held its third-quarter earnings call for fiscal year 2023 on August 9th and released an earnings report as well. Last earnings call, Disney executives shared huge news about how the parks are doing financially, Disney+ subscriber numbers, a new Hulu app merger, the battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and more. But, what did the most recent earnings call and report tell us this time around?

How many subscribers did Disney+ gain or lose?

In May 2023, the end of Q2 for FY 2023, we learned that Disney+ had a total of 157.8 million subscribers. This was another loss compared to Q1. The biggest loss was due to Disney+ Hotstar, though domestic Disney+ subscriber numbers were also slightly down. So, how is Disney+ doing now?

This quarter, Disney has a total of 146.1 million subscribers, including both Disney+ Hotstar and Disney+ Core. Disney has 11.7 million fewer subscribers than last quarter, yet revenue is up this quarter. In fact, the average monthly revenue per paid subscriber is up for domestic, international, and Disney+ Core.

Domestically, the Disney+ average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased from $7.14 to $7.31 due to higher per-subscriber advertising revenue.

The International Disney+ market (excluding Disney+ Hotstar) average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased from $5.93 to $6.01 due to an increase in average retail pricing and a favorable foreign exchange impact, partially offset by a higher mix of wholesale subscribers.

The improvement at Disney+ was due to higher subscription revenue and a decrease in marketing costs, partially offset by higher programming and production costs and lower advertising revenue. Higher subscription revenue was attributable to Disney+ Core subscriber growth and increases in Disney+ Core retail pricing.

Is streaming losing money?

In Q2 of FY 2023, Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer business still reported a loss. The revenues at Direct-to-Consumer increased by 12% compared to the prior year’s quarter, and the operating loss went down by 26%. We know that streaming is a big priority for Iger, and we’re interested to see if he’s any closer to achieving his goals.

This quarter, Direct-to-Consumer revenues for the quarter increased by 9% to $5.5 billion, and operating loss decreased to $0.5 billion from a loss of $1.1 billion.

Click here to learn more about the Disney+ subscriber data

Disney+ Price Increases

Iger previously announced that Disney+ would undergo a price increase for its ad-free tier by the end of 2023, and he shared a bit more about that in this call.

Beginning October 12th, the ad-free Disney+ tier will cost $13.99 per month, a 27% increase. Disney+ with ads will remain at $7.99 per month, per CNBC.

How are Disney parks doing financially?

As of Q2 of FY 2023, things were looking up for the parks, but the revenues for Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products for that quarter (Q2 of FY 2023) did increase by 17%. But now we know that for this third quarter, the biggest loss was at Disney World, while results at Disneyland Resort were “up modestly compared to the prior-year quarter.”

Disney says the decrease at Disney World was due to higher costs which came from inflation and accelerated depreciation related to the permanent closure of the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. The hotel experience is set to close in September.

Click here to read more about the Disney Parks’ revenue

Overall Financial Results for The Walt Disney Company

In terms of overall finances, here’s a breakdown:

• Revenues for the quarter and nine months grew 4% and 8%, respectively.
• Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter saw a loss of $0.25 compared to income of $0.77 in the prior-year quarter.
• Excluding certain items, diluted EPS for the quarter was $1.03, down from $1.09 in the prior-year quarter.

Iger stated,

“Our results this quarter are reflective of what we’ve accomplished through the unprecedented transformation we’re undertaking at Disney to restructure the company, improve efficiencies, and restore creativity to the center of our business. In the eight months since my return, these important changes are creating a more cost effective, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our operations that has put us on track to exceed our initial goal of $5.5 billion in savings as well as improved our direct-to-consumer operating income by roughly $1 billion in just three quarters. While there is still more to do, I’m incredibly confident in Disney’s long-term trajectory because of the work we’ve done, the team we now have in place, and because of Disney’s core foundation of creative excellence and popular brands and franchises.”

Iger Comments on WGA/SAG-AFTRA Strikes

In an interview with CNBC held in July 2023, Iger shared his thoughts on the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes currently happening in Hollywood.

“It’s very disturbing to me,” Iger said in regard to the SAG-AFTRA strike combined with the WGA strike. He explained that the entertainment industry as a whole is still trying to recover after COVID-19 halted film and television production across the board. And now, he’s shared a bit more.

Disney CEO Bob Iger stated, “Nothing is more important to this company than its relationships with the creative community,” adding, “It is my fervent hope we quickly find solutions.”

Click here to learn more about Bob’s comments 

That’s a wrap-up of this earnings report/call. For more news, see our posts below. And check back with us on the latest Disney updates.

What do you think of all this news? Tell us in the comments.