For the first time since its launch in 2019, the Disney Plus streaming service is reporting a loss of subscribers.
No fewer than 2.4 million users left the service in the last quarter of 2022, most of them Indian consumers who were connected to Disney + Hotstar - a Disney Plus brand offered in the subcontinent that also offers live sports broadcasts and content from other channels, such as HBO.
However, Disney reports the departure of hundreds of thousands of subscribers in the US and Canada as well.
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The series "The Mandalorian" from "Star Wars", photo: Public Relations
The reason for the mass abandonment is not accidental, as millions of households connected to streaming services during the Corona period, and now with the disappearance of the epidemic and leaving the homes, people register fewer hours in front of the screen.
Add to that a growing selection of competing streaming services, and the phenomenon is certainly understandable.
And yet, at Disney - the largest media power in the world, which controls countless brands such as Marvel, "Star Wars", "Avatar", "The Muppets", "The Simpsons", the sports network ESPN, the television network ABC and National Geographic - they do not ease their heads in the economic blow .
Disney Plus content, photo: PR
Yesterday (Wednesday) the company announced its intention to lay off about 7,000 employees from all divisions and divisions of the company - about three percent of the total number of employees of the film empire.
The management aims to reduce annual expenses of approximately 5.5 billion dollars, and in the process also announced an organizational change and an ambition to focus on the strongest brands in its rich catalog.
This trend is the responsibility of Bob Iger, Disney's new-old CEO, who returned to his position at the end of 2022 after his predecessor, Bob Chapek, was abruptly ousted. Iger said yesterday that the company will review and update its pricing and content distribution strategies around the world, as well as Its advertising ventures on the streaming platforms (a discounted version of Disney Plus that includes advertisements was launched in the US last December).
Disney Plus, photo: AFP
But all is not bleak in the kingdom of Mickey Mouse, as as part of the same focus on strong brands, Disney also announced three new animated films yesterday that will undoubtedly do the trick at the box office.
These are "Break the Ice 3", "Toy Story 5" and "Zootropolis 3", which are all in the production stages, but it has not been announced when each film will be launched.
Disney's next film project, the comic book film "Antman and the Wasp: Quantum Mania" which will essentially kick off the fifth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will hit theaters on February 15.
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