The two main causes of the reduction in subscribers have been the loss of the Indian Premier League (IPL) digital rights and the non-renewal of the HBO contract.
Disney+ Hotstar’s paid base decreased by 24% to 40.4 million from 52.9 million in the preceding quarter, according to Walt Disney’s Q3 figures.
The platform’s Average Monthly Revenue Per Paid Subscriber remained unchanged at $0.59.
Disney+ Hotstar lost 4.6 million subscribers in Q2 and 3.8 million subscribers in Q1.In the first three quarters of fiscal 2023, Disney+ Hotstar’s subscriber base saw a reduction of 20.9 million subscribers.Disney+ Hotstar is available in India and certain other Southeast Asian countries.”Disney+ Hotstar subscribers declined this quarter as we adjusted our product from one centered around the IPL to one more balanced with other sports and entertainment offerings,” said Walt Disney Interim CFO Kevin Lansberry.
“I would also note that this business, with its significantly lower ARPU compared to core Disney+, is not a material component of our overall D2C financial results,” he added.
On being asked about the company’s international streaming strategy, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company is looking at multiple markets around the world with an eye toward prioritizing those that are going to help it turn streaming into a profitable business.
“What that basically means is that there are some markets where we will invest less in local programming but still maintain the service. There are some markets where we may not have a service at all. And there are others that we’ll consider, I’ll call them, high-potential markets where we’ll invest nicely for local programming, marketing, and basically full-service content in those markets,” he added.
The company’s revenue from the international channels business decreased by 20% to $1.2 billion, and operating results decreased to a loss of $87 million from an income of $166 million.
It stated that the decrease in operating results was primarily due to lower advertising revenue and, to a lesser extent, an unfavorable foreign exchange impact. The decrease in advertising revenue was due to lower rates attributable to Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket programming.
