The new recipe for the crisis that is hitting the platforms comes from the times of cable television: unify content to satisfy everyone
By iProfessional
11/05/2023 – 10,24hs
Disney+, The streaming platform of the Mickey Mouse company lost four million subscribers in the first three months of 2023, according to what the company itself reported to the specialized press.
The detail of this loss was mainly responsible for Disney+ Hotstarthe version of the service offered in India and parts of Southeast Asia where the conglomerate failed to retain the rights to broadcast Indian Premier League cricket matches, the specialized portal Variety pointed out.
Despite the second quarterly drop Consecutive in the number of clients of the streamer, it was detailed that the firm managed to reduce the losses of its transmission business by $400 million dollars, 26% less year on year.
The current year for Disney was plagued by layoffs across the company, cUrsa the current writers’ strike and is in a turf war with Florida Governor Rick DeSantis.
Disney+ lost 4 million subscribers in the first quarter
Losses, but less: what is the planned solution
The good part is that the economic losses for the platform have been 400 million dollars, that is, they have managed to reduce them by 26% compared to last year. In addition, the subscriber drop figures are more consistent or even positive in other markets: in the United States and Canada, Disney+ only lost 300,000 (for a total of 46.3 million subscribers) and added one million in international markets, excluding India.
One of the solutions that Disney proposes to this situation is to launch in the United States (although its arrival in Europe is also planned) a single app that incorporates content from Disney+ y Hulu, until now an independent channel with its own programming. It would launch in late 2023, with both channels and ESPN+ still available as standalone options.
Bob Iger He states that this new option “will provide greater opportunities for advertisers, while giving package subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content.”
“A more unified streaming experience.” This is how Iger defines it, in a decision that goes in parallel with Warner’s recent announcement that HBO Max it would be renamed Max and would include content from Discovery. Iger has also said that prices will rise, both for the normal subscription and the one that includes ads. Disney is also evaluating what to do with the 33% that Comcast (Universal’s owners) owns in Hulu, and that it could buy back as of January 2024. Some observers, such as Variety, believe that the unification of the platforms is a clear step in that address.
content clipping
Iger and the finance manager Christine McCarthy they talked about cutting back on the content that was available on Disney+ and Hulu. They want to save 3,000 million dollars in 2023 of the 30,000 that they spent in the fiscal year of 2022 (and that includes not only fiction, but also the purchase of rights for sports broadcasts).
Again, it is inevitable to think of HBO and the controversial content cuts that ended a good part of its animated production, which sent such emblematic series as ‘Westworld’ off the platform and which clipped the wings of practically finished films such as ‘Batgirl’.
