Disney reported that its Direct-to-Consumer & International division continued as the company’s main area of growth in the third quarter of 2020, with revenues soaring to USD 4.85 billion, up 41 percent from USD 3.45 billion a year earlier. The segment was boosted by streaming services Disney+ and Hulu but still reported an operating loss of USD 580 million compared to a USD 751 million loss in Q3 2019.
Total Disney revenues were down 23 percent year-on-year to USD 14.71 billion, due above all to a USD 3.1 billion Covid hit in Q3 alone, although the company’s media networks division, including cable and broadcasting, saw revenues for the quarter climb 11 percent to USD 7.21 billion thanks to higher advertising revenue and lower programming costs.
Disney+ ended the quarter with 73.7 million subscribers, up from 57.5 million three months earlier. The service was launched in the Netherlands, Canada and the US a year ago and has since expanded to around 30 different territories ahead of next week’s rollout across Latin America.
The company said the success of Disney+ has driven growth across its other streaming platforms, with Hulu’s subscribers climbing 28.5 percent year on year to 36.6 million and ESPN+ surging to 10.3 million from 3.5 million a year earlier. Disney has been offering a bundled subscription package of Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu in the US since November 2019.
Source: https://www.telecompaper.com/news/disney-hits-nearly-74-mln-subscribers-in-first-year--1361799