Disney+ Hotstar paid subscriptions down 6% in quarter ending December 31

Disney+ Hotstar’s paid subscribers fell 6% in the first quarter ending December 31 to 57.5 million from 61.3 million in the previous quarter.

Disney+ Hotstar’s average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased by 28% to $0.74 from $0.58 in the previous quarter.

The company attributed this increase to its higher per-subscriber advertising revenue.

Globally, Disney’s streaming service Disney+ saw a first-ever fall decline in subscribers last quarter. The subscriptions stand at 161.8 million as on December 31, down 1% from the previous quarter in Q1 FY23.

Disney’s earnings in Q1FY23

The revenue of Disney grew 8% to $23.51 billion from $21.82 billion a year earlier, better than analysts’ expectations of $23.44 billion.

Disney reported that its international channels revenues for the quarter decreased 21% to $1.2 billion and operating income decreased 64% to $131 million.

The decrease in operating income was due to lower advertising revenue, an unfavourable foreign exchange impact and a decrease in affiliate revenue, partially offset by a decrease in programming and production costs. The decrease in advertising revenue was due to lower average viewership and rates, according to the company.

The company said, “Lower programming and production costs were due to decreased sports programming costs attributable to lower costs for cricket rights, partially offset by higher production costs and costs for new soccer rights. The decreases in cricket programming costs and advertising viewership reflected no Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches aired in the current quarter compared to thirteen matches aired in the prior-year quarter as matches shifted from fiscal 2021 into fiscal 2022 due to COVID-19. IPL matches typically occur in the second and third quarters of our fiscal year. The decrease in cricket programming costs was also due to lower costs per match for the International Cricket Council T20 World Cup compared to the prior-year quarter.”

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