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Important milestone: Disney+ is profitable for the first time!

8.5.2024

Translation: machine translated

Disney+ is making a profit for the first time in its almost five-year history. This is thanks to savings and a new focus on quality rather than quantity, according to Disney CEO Bob Iger. But what does the future hold?

It has taken long enough: Disney+ is in the black for the first time. This was announced by Disney CEO Bob Iger with the results for the second quarter of 2024. Together with Hulu - Disney's streaming service for less family-friendly content in America - Disney's streamed entertainment division even made a profit of 47 million US dollars. This is a decent and, for industry insiders, surprising growth compared to the same period last year. Back then, Disney posted a loss of 587 million (!) dollars in the same area.

Not least because of this, Disney recently announced the end of account sharing and the launch of paid account sharing. This is in order to finally transform the streaming division into a "growth business" - i.e. a growing business division that no longer makes a loss.

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However, Disney's streaming division is not yet completely out of the woods. Together with the sports content of ESPN+, it is still recording a loss of 18 million dollars. Bob Iger remains calm: By the end of this year, the entire streaming division, i.e. not just Disney+ and Hulu, should be profitable.

Future music: ESPN+ will soon be integrated into Disney+

Bob Iger already has plans for how this will be achieved. On the one hand, he wants to continue to focus more on quality rather than quantity. For example, the overwhelming streaming success of FX's "Shōgun" at the beginning of March led to the highest increase in new subscriptions since "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". This is set to continue: Bob Iger confirmed, for example, that there will only be a maximum of three Marvel cinema films and two Marvel series per year - if at all.

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On the other hand, the sports streaming service ESPN+ is to be integrated into the Disney+ app as an additional tile by the end of the year at the latest. At least in America. The aim is to give viewers access to selected live sports content via Disney+ and further boost subscription figures. ESPN+ is thus following in the footsteps of Hulu, which was also integrated into the Disney+ app at the beginning of the year - albeit in a slightly slimmed-down form in this country as a "Star" tile, but already years ago.

This means that the measures taken in recent weeks and months are finally bearing financial fruit. This is because Iger has been making massive savings totalling billions for months. Added to this were the adjusted prices for the Disney+ subscription: while the basic and premium plans became more expensive, Disney introduced a cheaper but ad-financed subscription model. On the one hand, this is more favourable for those who are prepared to put up with advertising interruptions. On the other hand, Disney still earns more per subscription compared to the basic plan thanks to advertising revenue.

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Bob Iger is positive: he still expects a slight setback for the streaming division in the third quarter. But by the end of the year at the latest, his "baby" should also be generating profits and thus finally become the growth driver for the Walt Disney Company that Iger has been envisioning since 2019. <p

Header image: Luca Fontana

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Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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Important milestone: Disney+ is profitable for the first time!

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What do account sharing and paid account sharing mean?

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Digitec Deal of the day