Disney has once again hit a new milestone with its very own Disney+ streaming service, beating out the Wall Street-expected 112.8 million subscribers to now boast 116 million subscribers globally after adding another 12.4 million during the third quarter of 2021 ending July 3.
The new achievement comes even after Disney increased the price of its service by a dollar to now $7.99 USD a month back in March. Revenues also surpassed expectations, with the media giant recording a 45 percent growth year over year. The company’s CFO Christine McCarthy attributes much of the new subscriber success to Disney+ Hotstar, a streaming service specifically catered to India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, accounting for almost 40 percent of the 116 million.
Despite the strong numbers, Variety points out that Disney’s average revenue per sub per month continues to decline, coming down by 10 percent as compared to the same quarter last year. CEO Bob Chapek also announced during the earnings call that the launch date for Disney+ in eastern Europe will be delayed until the summer of 2022 in hopes of aligning with a wider release across parts of Africa and the Middle East.
In other entertainment news, James Gunn says he originally wanted Superman to be the villain in The Suicide Squad.
