Disney Joins the Tough-Love Club for Streaming Viewers
The entertainment giant is following its top rivals by raising prices and offering an ad-supported version of Disney+.
Get ready to pay more or watch ads.
Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
Walt Disney Co.’s streaming strategy appears to be shifting ever so subtly away from subscriber growth toward profits, dealing another blow to customers who have become accustomed to low-price, ad-free viewing.
While Wall Street showed its delight with the 14.4 million new Disney+ subscribers that the company reported on Wednesday for the quarter ended July 2, the growth wasn’t as good as it could have been. In the North American market, for instance, Disney+ added just 100,000 subscribers compared with the previous quarter, to 44.5 million from 44.4 million as of April 2. So the growth came almost entirely from overseas, partly from India, where average revenue per subscriber is a fraction of what it is for Disney+ elsewhere. Overseas growth was also fueled by the launch of 50 new markets, which muddies the waters.