Disney Plus loses subscribers – parent company cuts 7,000 jobs
The wave of layoffs has reached the next US company. Because Disney is also making cuts. The Mickey Mouse group wants to save 5.5 billion US dollars. The in-house streaming service Disney Plus is also losing subscribers for the first time.
On Wednesday, February 8, 2023, Disney has its latest quarterly figures presented. But although the numbers show a clear increase, the group wants to cut back and cut around 7,000 jobs.
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Disney’s quarterly figures at a glance
Disney’s fiscal 2023 first quarter ended on December 31, 2022. The company closed the quarter with revenue of $23.51 billion, up eight percent from a year earlier.
Despite the good numbers, things should not continue as before for the entertainment giant. CEO Bob Iger confirmed this when announcing the results: “After a solid first quarter, we are embarking on a significant transformation that will maximize the potential of our world-class creative teams and our unparalleled brands and franchises.”
In the future, Iger wants to focus more on creativity at Disney again. At the same time, he wants to minimize costs in order to achieve “sustainable growth and profitability for our streaming business”.
He wants to better position the group so that it is better prepared for “future disruptions and global economic challenges”.
Disney: Mass layoffs and billions in savings
To achieve these goals, Disney has worked on its structure, among other things. The group will consist of three core business areas:
- Entertainment with all streaming and media activities
- Sports channel ESPN with its streaming service ESPN Plus
- Parks, experiences and products
But restructuring the company shouldn’t be the only way to future-proof Disney. Because Iger wants to save a total of 5.5 billion US dollars
There should also be significant cuts in the workforce. The Mickey Mouse group wants to cut 7,000 jobs, which is 3.2 percent of the global workforce.
Disney Plus loses subscribers for the first time
It was only in November – shortly after his return to Disney – that CEO Bob Iger announced that he wanted to focus primarily on profitability in the future when it came to Disney Plus. The growth in the number of subscriptions is of secondary importance.
This is also reflected in the quarterly figures. Because the entertainment group had to record a decline in subscribers for the first time.
In the last three months of 2022, Disney Plus subscriptions fell by 2.4 million. The decline was significantly higher than analysts had previously expected.
The declining numbers are mainly due to the Disney Plus Hotstar offer, which the group offers in India and parts of Southeast Asia. Here, Disney had previously lost the rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches – the streaming service lost 3.8 million subscribers.
Disney Plus added around 200,000 subscriptions in the USA and Canada, but this was nowhere near making up for the enormous loss in India.
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