Ending the speculations about Disney’s future in India, Bob Iger, chief executive officer (CEO), Walt Disney Company, said that they “would like to stay”. “In India, our linear business actually does quite well. It’s making money. But we know that other parts of that business are challenging for us”, Iger said during the third quarter earnings call. “We’re considering our options there. We have an opportunity to strengthen our hand”, he added.
For the quarter ended September 30, Disney reported adjusted per-share earnings of 82 cents, topping an average forecast of 70 cents, according to LSEG data. Quarterly revenue of $21.2 billion was largely in line with consensus estimates. The company said it added nearly 7 million Disney+ streaming subscribers in the quarter, with the inclusion of “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” and the original series “Star Wars: Ashoka.” Disney+ and Disney + Hotstar together boast 150.2 million subscribers, ahead of Visible Alpha’s estimate of 147.4 million.
While Hotstar grappled with a loss of 28 lakh subscribers in the last quarter, bringing the total loss to about 2.3 crore in a year, Disney+ globally added nearly 70 lakh subscribers, surpassing 15 crore, including Hotstar.
Talking about the India prospects, Iger added, “It is now maybe the most populous country in the world and we’d like to stay in that market. But we’re also looking to see whether we can strengthen our hand obviously, improve the bottom line”.
Hotstar is said to have regained many subscribers and attracted millions of non-paying users to its platform, owing to the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup.
A former Disney employee, in an interview to Financial Times, said, “They have the biggest studio in India, a big TV business with Star, in the fastest-growing big economy in the World.”
“Some want to sell that because the annual revenue per subscriber is low? It’s crazy”, he added.
