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“We plan to refine this goal over time as subscriber visibility in India will be clearer once the ICC and BCCI cricket rights sales processes are complete,” said Bob.
“As you may know, we recently made the disciplined decision not to proceed with the Indian Premier League digital rights, and we will evaluate these rights with that same discipline,” he said late on Wednesday during the company’s earnings call with analysts.
Disney+Hotstar had 44.9 million paying users in the country during the same period last year.
“We are excited to continue offering IPL to our linear customers in India, where there is growth potential for our portfolio of more than 70 channels reaching 90 percent of the pay cable and satellite TV homes in the region,” said Chapek .
“Pay TV distribution in India remains a robust business with projected GDP growth expected to boost advertising and consumer spending,” he added.
Chapek said India is one of the few markets in which “we are launching new linear channels”.
“Finally, given the results of our recently completed upfront, it is clear that our unparalleled portfolio is still highly sought after by advertisers,” he said.
Overall, Disney+ subscriptions rose to 152.1 million for the third fiscal quarter ended July 2, and the streaming giant added 14.4 million new subscribers in the April-June period.
The company lowered its 2024 forecast for Disney+ by 215 million-245 million subscribers. It had previously set the expectation for subscribers at 230 million-260 million by the end of fiscal 2024.
“With 14.4 million Disney+ subscribers added in the fiscal third quarter, we now have a total of 221 million subscriptions across our streaming offering,” said Chapek.
The company said its international Disney+ subscribers increased by 6 million to 49.2 million.
Disney also announced that it will increase the price of its ad-free Disney+ subscription to $10.99 per month starting December 8 in the US.
The price change coincides with the launch of the streaming service’s upcoming ad-supported subscription, which will cost $7.99 per month.
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