“Netflix now has a million fewer subscribers than rival Disney…” reports the Independent. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean Netflix has fewer subscribers. If a person subscribes to two Disney offers, that will count as two subscriptions, and the company does not disclose how many people subscribe to its services.” (Digital trends notes that “After acquiring 21st Century Fox, Disney also controls Hulu,” as well as the sports streaming site ESPN+.)
If you just want to compare Netflix to Disney+ then Independent reports Netflix with 220.67 million total subscribers, while IndieWire reports that Disney+ had 152.1 million subscribers at the end of June. (Disney’s chief executive says Disney+ added 14.4 million subscribers between March and June, according to the Independent.)
IndieWire goes on to report that ESPN+ reported 22.8 million subscribers earlier this year, while Hulu reported 46.2 million subscribers, so “combined subscriptions for the individual services included in the Disney Bundle just surpassed the total number of paid Netflix subscribers worldwide.”
We’ll note here that Hulu is still the only one of the pack making money. However, its operating profit fell in Q3, while Disney+ and ESPN+’s losses widened.
Disney+ is expected to break even in 2024, executives said Wednesday during Disney’s third-quarter conference call.
