(CelebrityAccess) — The Walt Disney Company made news with the release of their third fiscal quarter financial filings, revealing that their direct-to-consumer streaming platforms have finally overtaken rival Netflix in total subscribers. But that news comes with a notable caveat.
According to Disney, their three streaming platforms, Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu garnered a total of 221.1 million subscribers during the third quarter, putting them ahead of Netflix, who reported 220.67 million paid subscribers at the end of their second fiscal quarter, which ended on June 30th
However, the comparison between the two companies is awkward. Netflix operates only one streaming platform, which despite losing a small number of subscribers in the past two quarters (200,000 in Q1 and 970,000 in Q2) still has 6.7% more subscribers in the second quarter than they did during the same period in 2021.
During the same time, Disney saw substantial subscriber growth, but their two primary DTC streaming platforms – Hulu and Disney+ – collectively have fewer subscribers than Netflix single service.
As well, according to Netflix, their streaming business is operating at a profit, and the company reported net income of $1.4 billion during Q2, while Disney’s DTC business reported an operating loss of $1.1 billion during Q3 which the company attributed to “a higher loss at Disney+, lower operating income at Hulu and, to a lesser extent, a higher loss at ESPN+.”
While Disney’s subscriber growth outpaced Netflix during the spring and early summer of 2022, that may reflect pricing dynamics. Netflix raised the price of its subscription in early 2022 with their basic streaming package increasing from $8.99 to $9.99, while also adding a subscription supported tier, while Disney+ was available for just $7.99 per month.
Now it’s Disney who is testing consumer sentiment with a price increase and in their Q3 financial filings, the company revealed plans for a significant price increase. Disney is raising the price for Disney+ by $3 dollars to $10.99, and adding an ad-supported tier for $7.99, the old price of their full subscription, with similar changes in the works for Hulu, ESPN+ and their various packages.
How much of an impact that will have on the company’s subscriber growth is hard to predict, but those waiting for an end to Netflix’s dominance in the DTC streaming industry may have to wait a little longer.
