(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Disney released their third quarter financials for 2023, revealing to the world that their streaming site lost hundreds of millions of dollars as subscribers continue to halt their memberships.
Over the course of those three months, Disney+ lost 146.1 million subscribers—a trend that shows no signs of reversing, according to the Post Millennial.
Not all segments of the streaming service faced equal impacts; Disney+ Hotstar—the Indian branch of the website—saw the greatest decline in membership with 24% loss. Users reportedly abandoned the platform after the company lost the rights to broadcast Indian Premier League cricket matches.
Despite the significant loss in streaming, the company’s overall revenue was up 4% to $22.33 billion.
“I believe three businesses will drive the greatest growth and value creation over the next five years,” said CEO Bob Iger in response to the depressing report. “They are our film studios, our parks business and streaming, all of which are inextricably linked to our brands and franchises.”
In response to the revenue loss, Disney will raise the price of Disney+ to $14 per month, offering a joint Disney+ and Hulu subscription option for $20 per month.
Disney also announced their intent to restrict password sharing, much like Netflix did earlier this year.
Iger continued to expect Disney’s parks to make the bulk of the company’s profits, with those outside of the U.S. performing particularly well.
Disneyland in Florida continued to see decline in attendance.
Several of the company’s summer movie releases were catastrophic failures as well, with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Little Mermaid and Elemental taking massive financial losses.
As a response to the losses, Disney laid off more than 7,000 employees last month.
Some suspect that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives were to blame for the company’s recent losses.
However, change may be on the horizon after legal pressure Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis forced the ending of several of the policies practiced at the company’s Florida park.
“Our district will no longer participate in any attempt to divide us by race or advance the notion that we are not created equal,” said Glenton Gilzean, director of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. “The so-called diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives were advanced during the tenure of the previous board and they were illegal and simply unAmerican.”
