The international streaming service Disney+ ended the third quarter with a total of 164.2 million paying subscribers, or 39% more than a year earlier.
However, its loss increased, reflecting higher programming and production costs, increases in marketing and technology costs and the absence of Premier Access releases in the quarter, partially offset by higher subscription revenue.
Disney+ had 46.4 million domestic (US and Canada) paying subscribers as of October 1, up 20% on a year earlier. Internationally, excluding Hotstar, it had 56.5 million (+57%), with Hotstar claiming 61.3 million (+42%). Meanwhile, ESPN+ had 24.3 million (+42%) and Hulu a total of 47.2 million (+8%).
Disney+ ARPU in US and Canada in Q3 amounted to $6.1 (-10%) and $5.83 (+4%) in international excluding Hotstar. Globally, Disney+’s ARPU fell by 5% year-on-year to $3.91.
Disney notes that D2C revenues for the quarter increased 8% to $4.9 billion and operating loss increased $0.8 billion to $1.5 billion.
