Star Sports revenue down 37% in September quarter; Hotstar ARPU slips 26%

New Delhi: Star India’s sports business witnessed a 37% drop in revenue in the September quarter while its operating income increased by 67% in the same quarter, the Walt Disney Co said in its quarter and full-year results announced on Thursday.

Star Sports recorded a revenue of USD 58 million in the July - September quarter of 2024, down 37% from USD 92 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The operating income for the quarter stood at USD 20 million, up 67% from US 12 million a year ago.

Disney+ Hotstar reported a marginal growth of 1% in its paid subscribers to 35.9 million in September quarter of 2024 from 35.5 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

However, the Average Monthly Revenue Per Paid Subscriber (ARPU) for the quarter ended September 2024 slipped 26%.

Hotstar’s ARPU stood at USD 0.78 in the latest quarter against USD 1.05 a year ago.

Walt Disney said the fall in ARPU was due to lower advertising revenue.

Globally, TWDC revenues increased 6% for Q4 to USD 22.6 billion from USD 21.2 billion in the prior-year quarter, and 3% for the year to USD 91.4 billion from USD 88.9 billion in the prior year.

Income before income taxes declined 6% to USD 0.9 billion in Q4 from USD 1.0 billion in the prior-year quarter and increased 59% for the year to USD 7.6 billion from USD 4.8 billion in the prior year.