Disney+ Hotstar reports ~6% decline in paid subscriber base

10 Feb 2023 , 01:37 AM

Due to the non-renewal of a content deal with Jio and the pull-out of shorter duration pack customers following the loss of Indian Premier League (IPL) digital rights, streaming giant Disney+ Hotstar saw a 6% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) drop in its paid subscriber base during the three months to December 2022.

According to Walt Disney’s Q12023 results, the paid subscriber base of Disney+ Hotstar has decreased by 3.8 million to 57.5 million from 61.3 million at the fiscal year’s end.

Furthermore, Disney+ Hotstar reported that average monthly revenue per paid subscriber has increased by 28% to $0.74 from $0.58. 

‘To drive subscriber growth, Disney+ Hotstar introduced shorter-duration quarterly packs in Q22022. However, the failure to renew IPL digital rights has resulted in a significant gap in compelling cricket content following the conclusion of the ICC T20 World Cup last year ‘said Mihir Shah, VP of Media Partners Asia.

According to Shah, the lack of IPL digital rights could have an impact on Disney+ Hotstar’s content deal renewal with JioFiber.

Overall, Disney+ has lost 2.4 million subscribers, leaving it with 161.8 million subscriptions at the end of 2022.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, Disney+ Hotstar, which is operated by Star India-controlled Novi Digital Entertainment, reported a 93% increase in total revenue of Rs3,220.41 crore and a 43% decrease in net loss to Rs343.16 crore.

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