Disney+, which plans to lay off 7,000 employees, announced that it lost 2.4 million subscribers

Disney+ has announced its global results for the first quarter of 2023. According to the shared information, the platform lost 2.4 million subscribers in the first quarter. Disney+’s global user count dropped from 164.2 million to 161.8 million . Launched in 2019, Disney+ experienced a loss of users for the first time since then. 

The loss in Disney+ subscribers was mainly due to the drop in Disney+ Hotstar subscribers. The international streaming service, available in India and parts of Southeast Asia, had 61.3 million subscribers in the previous quarter, compared to 3.8 million in the last quarter.

Disney’s other streaming services Hulu and ESPN+ had a good quarter, gaining 800k subscribers and 600k subscribers, respectively . Hulu currently has 48 million subscribers and ESPN+ has 24.9 million subscribers.

Overall, Disney reported revenue of $23.51 billion and adjusted earnings per share of 99 cents, up 8 percent for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 (Disney’s 1st quarter of fiscal 2023). Analyst estimates were for the company’s revenue to be $23.37 billion and 78 cents per share. In other words, despite the loss of subscribers, revenue was achieved by a small margin, above analyst estimates. 

Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger , said that Disney has plans to cut costs by $5.5 billion, and in this context, 3.2 percent of the company’s global workforce will be laid off . This rate corresponds to 7 thousand employees . It was also announced that the company was reorganized into three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.