Hotstar accounts for 37 per cent of Disney+’s total subscriptions due to declining user base

Disney+ has recorded 118 million paid subscribers globally, so Hotstar users would be around 43.6 million. For the April-June quarter, Disney+ reported 116 million paid subscribers, of which 46 million came from Hotstar.

Hotstar’s data also includes users from Malaysia and Thailand where the service was launched earlier this year, apart from those coming from India and Indonesia where it was already present.

“Disney+ Hotstar subscriptions decreased compared to the previous quarter and accounted for approximately 37% of our total Disney+ paid subscriber base as of the end of the fourth quarter. The ARPU (average revenue per user) for Hotstar declined on a fourth quarter basis from the third quarter this year, and this was a result of lower advertising revenue per customer as there were fewer IPL (Indian Premier League) matches this year. In Q4, there were only 18, and in Q3 the number was around 29,” Disney senior executive vice president and chief financial officer Christine McCarthy said during an earnings call. McCarthy said the draw of content in India goes beyond the other usual. IPL for entertainment properties.

Overall, Disney+’s global customer base grew 60% for the fiscal year ended September. The service aims to be profitable by 2024, the company said. Average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for Disney+ declined from $4.52 to $4.12 in the current quarter, due to a higher mix of Disney+ Hotstar customers, the firm said in a statement.

Novi Digital Entertainment Pvt Ltd, which now runs Hotstar, a part of Walt Disney India, reported a net loss of Rs. 601 crore for the fiscal year 2020-21, an increase of 66% from the previous financial year, according to data accessed by business intelligence platform Toffler last month. In addition, the revenue for the year was 1,704 crore, a jump of 5% over the previous year, while the total expenditure for the fiscal stood at Rs. 2,305 crore.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek said during an earnings call that the company, which has nine theatrical releases slated for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, has preached flexibility in deciding on distribution as it recovers from the pandemic and consumer behavior. Change is in the mix.

“How many titles we had to go to theatrical will eventually go to Disney+, but what we are seeing is some recovery of the theatrical exhibition market, which is a good thing not only for Disney, but for the industry as well. And because most of the franchises that we have are created through the theatrical exhibition channel of distribution. At the same time, we’re looking at different types of films carefully to see how the different demographics of that market pan out,” Chapek said.