Disney released its results for the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2023, which revealed the company’s streaming division lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to a mass exodus of subscribers.
Disney saw its subscribers continue to plummet during the three months, a trend that began in the last quarter of FY2022 and shows no improvement.
Disney+ reported 146.1 million subscribers in Q3, a .4 percent decrease over Q2, CNBC reported.
Disney+ Hotstar suffered the greatest loss, 24 percent, after customers dumped the site after the service lost rights to broadcast Indian Premier League cricket matches.
But Disney CEO Bob Iger expressed his confidence that the company could recoup its losses after its subscribers leaving the streaming sites.
“Moving forward,” he said, “I believe three businesses will drive the greatest growth and value creation over the next five years.”
“They are our film studios, our parks business, and streaming, all of which are inextricably linked to our brands and franchises.”
Disney has since announced that it will soon raise the price of Disney+ to $13.99 per month and offer a joint Disney+ and Hulu subscription for $19.99 per month, starting 12 October.
Last month, Iger revealed shocking insights into the future of Disney-owned media networks in an interview with CNBC.
Iger told David Faber on the network’s “Squawk Box” program there are huge struggles looming for the company.
“Transformative work is dealing with businesses that are no growth businesses and what to do about them, and particularly the linear business, which we are expansive in our thinking about,” Iger told the host.
“And we’re going to look expansively about opportunities there because clearly, it’s a business that is going to continue to struggle.”
Faber asked Iger if he meant eliminating legacy networks like ABC and FX.
“We have to be open-minded and objective about the future of those businesses, yes,” Iger replied to the question on whether he would sell ABC and other networks.
“Meaning that they’re not core to Disney?” Faber pressed on.
“That they may not be core to Disney,” Iger added.
“The distribution model, the business model that forms the underpinning of that business and that is delivered great profits over the years, is broken. And we have to call it like it is.”
READ: ‘Woke’ Disney Lost $123 Billion in Market Value in 2022 – Worst Year Since 1974
