Walt Disney overtook Netflix in subscriber numbers with 221 million users at the end of the second quarter of this year. On Wednesday (10th), the company announced that it will launch a Disney+ plan with advertising, scheduled for December.
In the second quarter, which ended in June, Disney added 14.4 million new customers, just over 4 million more than the market was expecting. Netflix, on the other hand, ended June with 220.7 million subscribers.
Over the next two years, Walt Disney is forecasting slower subscriber growth, between 215 million and 245 million total customers by September 2024 over the same period, the company expects to reach up to 260 million customers.
According to Portal, the downward correction is due to the Indian market, where the company lost the rights to broadcast cricket matches, a national fever sport, in the Indian Premier League.
To maintain streaming profit margins, the company also said in a statement that it will increase the price of its adfree version of Disney+ by nearly 38%. This should be done at the start of the promotional plan.
The company’s statement outlined pricing for the United States: Disney+ with ads will cost $7.99 per month, the same as the adfree version now. The cost of adfree Disney+ will increase by $3 per month to $10.99 starting December 8th.
The streaming giant’s quest is to stop the money loss. In the second quarter, profit fell 32% to about $1.4 billion.
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