Disney streamers finally profitable; rewards fans with 25% price hike

Disney's streaming platforms have finally posted a net profit after a long-term struggle saw the company lose billions.

In a Q3 earnings call, the company announced profits from streaming a full quarter ahead of expectations. The third quarter direct-to-consumer income totaled $47 million, according to Disney, which is quite the turnaround from a $512 million loss in the previous year.

The profit appeared to come solely off the back of ESPN+ after Disney+ and Hulu were packaged with the sports network.

Disney+ and Hulu reportedly incurred a combined loss of $19 million, according to Bounding into Comics, meaning if the profit margin came from ESPN+ alone that would mean the sports network brought in $66 million. However, the breakdown of the figures is unclear at the time of this publication.

'We are confident in our ability to continue driving earnings growth through our collection of unique and powerful assets.'

As Blaze News reported in May, Disney CEO Bob Iger had previously blamed the streaming services for a $4 billion loss:

"As we got into the streaming business in a very, very aggressive way, we tried to tell too many stories. Basically we invested too much, way ahead of possible returns. It's what led to streaming ending up as a $4 billion loss," Iger said in a webcasted conference.

The company did have the stated goal however of bundling Hulu and ESPN+ with Disney+ to increase overall engagement, and that calculated gamble appears to have worked out.

At the same time, the Walt Disney company announced in a press release that prices for its streaming packages, both ad-free and ad-supported, will increase by $1 to $2 per month.

Disney+ basic and premium plans will go from $7.99 and $13.99 per month, respectively, to $9.99 and $15.99

The ad-free and ad-included Hulu plans will go up to $18.99 and $9.99 per month, while ESPN+ goes up to $11.99 per month with ads.

Some bundle plans, such as the Duo Basic plan, are also set to increase prices.

Subscribers who pay more are set to receive "ABC News Live" and a "preschool content" playlist, with the promise of four additional curated playlists in fall 2024, according to the Dallas Express.

Iger has promised viewers that the Disney creative departments were going to "reconnect" to the monetization side of the company to ensure "quality is not lost," but price increases likely aren't what fans were hoping for out of that promise.

"This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our entertainment segment, both at the box office and [direct-to-consumer], as we achieved profitability across our combined streaming for the first time, and ahead of our previous guidance," Iger said. "We are confident in our ability to continue driving earnings growth through our collection of unique and powerful assets."

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