On August 9, the American media conglomerate, Disney released its earnings report for the third quarter of the year and nine months of the fiscal year that ended July 1, 2023 (for reference: the fiscal year in the US starts on October 1). A notable aspect of the earnings report was that the company’s Indian streaming service, Disney+Hostar, saw a 23.63% loss in its subscriber base, with the subscriber count going from 52.9 million in April to 40.4 million in July. The average revenue per subscriber has remained the same as the previous quarter at $0.59. Reasons behind the subscriber drop: The loss of IPL streaming rights: This loss in subscribers comes a year after Disney lost the streaming rights for the cricket tournament, Indian Premier League (IPL) to Reliance Industries-owned, Viacom 18. In its earnings report for Q1 2022, the then-CEO of Disney Bob Chapek said that IPL was “an important part of the Disney+ Hotstar content offering,” but was only a part of the company’s “broader portfolio of entertainment and sports.” He had assured investors that the Disney+ Hostar still be able to achieve its target of 230 to 260 million subscribers by 2024. But the decline in subscribers says otherwise. IPL has since been streamed on JioCinema (another Reliance Industries venture) and has proven to be extremely beneficial to the platform’s success, with 32 million people watching IPL at its peak. Article continues below ⬇, you might also want to read: Disney+ Hotstar To Not Be Deterred…
