Disney ended the September 2022 quarter (Disney's fiscal Q4 2022; Netflix's Q3 2022) with 235.7 million subscriptions vs. Netflix's 223.09 million. At the end of the calendar year, it was 234.7 million Disney subscriptions to 230.75 million Netflix subs.
On paper, Netflix's total subscriber count of 230.75 million is still lower than Disney's 234.7 million (from Disney, ESPN+, and Hulu). However, subscriber count has become an increasingly murky metric, with average revenue per user (ARPU) proving more telling.
Netflix Losing Streaming Dominance to Disney Plus, HBO Max, Apple TV Plus. Netflix has lost a giant slice of its mindshare to competitors in recent years, leading to big changes — and opportunities — for subscribers.
The Disney streaming service, comprised of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, reported 221 million customers at the end of its fiscal year third quarter of 2022, beating out Netflix's subscriber count of 220 million for the same period.
Disney was running away with this chart until the coronavirus crisis started. Right now, Netflix boasts $5 billion of unadjusted net income over the last four quarters, comfortably ahead of Disney's $3.1 billion.
Disney now boasts 221 million streaming customers across all of its platforms—beating the 220.7 million subscribers Netflix announced in July—after Disney+ added 14.4 million customers in the past quarter ending July 2.
Netflix's viewership atrophy may be due to implementing paid sharing, leading casual viewers to drop off and account holders to downgrade their plans or cancel their subscriptions altogether. This decline will come despite offering a lower-priced ad-supported option.
Netflix is battling to regain market share after losing nearly 1.2 million subscribers in the first six months of 2022, the first decline in a decade, after a viewership boom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On December 20, Netflix removed Moana to make room for a new lineup of films for Christmas and New Year's Eve. While Moana is no longer available on Netflix, you are still able to enjoy the movie over the holidays. Amazon Prime offers Moana for purchase, and iTunes offers both a rental and a purchase option.
In February, returning CEO Bob Iger said Disney would no longer provide subscriber forecasts, matching a decision at Netflix Inc. Disney+ has been losing customers to price increases, as well as collapsing demand in India after the company failed to win cricket streaming rights.
The Walt Disney Co. said its three main streaming services — Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu — have grown their subscriber numbers to more than 235 million as of October 1, or above Netflix's 223 million subscribers.
In total, Disney has lost more than $10 billion on its streaming service venture since it was introduced in 2019. On Disney's earnings call, Iger reiterated that the company is “confident” that its streaming services will achieve profitability by the end of 2024.
Disney+ lost roughly 11.7 million subscribers worldwide in the three months that ended July 1, for a new total of 146.1 million. All the decline came from a low-priced version of Disney+ in India. Last year, Disney lost a bid to renew the expensive rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches.
Disney also has an ad-supported tier at $7.99 per month. The Walt Disney Company has a larger market capitalisation at $179.2 billion compared to Netflix's $150.7 billion market cap. Over 99% of Netflix's revenue is from its online streaming service.
How many subscribers did Netflix lose to Disney plus?
Combined with Hulu and ESPN+, Disney said it had 221.1 million streaming subscribers at the end of the June quarter. Netflix said it had 220.7 million streaming subscribers. Last month Netflix announced it had lost another 1 million subscribers, the company's first ever back-to-back quarterly loss of customers.
Netflix's revenue did increase — nearly 8% to $8.54 billion for the quarter. The company forecast that revenue will jump 11% in the fourth quarter, reaching $8.69 billion.
Amazon Prime Video. One of Netflix's primary competitors is Amazon Prime Video. Also, simply known as Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video is a subsidiary of the American multinational technology company, Amazon.
Netflix faced threats of subscribers bailing on the service in 2022, when executives at the streaming giant considered introducing commercials to make up for a loss of paying customers.
Total debt on the balance sheet as of September 2023 : $14.30 B. According to Netflix's latest financial reports the company's total debt is $14.30 B. A company's total debt is the sum of all current and non-current debts.
Though Netflix has its challenges, there's more than enough cord-cutting to go around right now. The data shows that 12% of paid TV subscribers are "very likely to cut the cord in the next year," and those who are most likely to do so are between the ages of 18 and 34.
Walt Disney Co. said it will acquire a 33% stake in Hulu from Comcast for at least $8.6 billion, a deal that will give Disney full control of the streaming service. Disney has run Hulu since 2019, when Comcast ceded its authority to Disney and effectively became a silent partner.
