Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, June 15: After being outbid for the streaming rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches this week, Walt Disney Co. could lose as many as 20 million Disney+ customers.
According to Vivek Couto, executive director of Media Partners Asia, the company may have difficulty attaining its goal of 260 million global Disney+ customers by 2024.
Few consumer products have had the same level of success as Disney+. The programme, which provides unlimited access to Disney movies and TV episodes, attracted 10 million subscribers on its first day in November 2019 and now has about 138 million.
In late 2020, Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek made a bold prediction, forecasting that the company’s member count will triple in four years.
Disney+ Hotstar, a product available in India and other South Asian countries, has more than 50 million users globally, accounting for more than one-third of all subscribers, and cricket has been a major contributor.
Investors have been arguing whether the corporation will have to reduce its outlook for months. The drumbeat began after Netflix Inc. revealed its first subscriber decrease in a decade in April, following a bad quarter last year. This year, Disney’s stock has dropped 39%.
The cricket bidding battle was won by a company that included Paramount Global and Reliance Industries of India. In late 2020, Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek made a bold prediction, forecasting that the company’s member count will triple in four years.
Disney+ Hotstar, a product available in India and other South Asian countries, has more than 50 million users globally, accounting for more than one-third of all subscribers, and cricket has been a major contributor.
Investors have been arguing whether the corporation will have to reduce its outlook for months. The drumbeat began after Netflix Inc. revealed its first subscriber decrease in a decade in April, following a bad quarter last year. This year, Disney’s stock has dropped 39%.
Notably, the cricket bidding battle was won by a company that included Paramount Global and Reliance Industries of India. While Disney lost the streaming rights, it kept the rights to show the games on regular television networks by agreeing to pay almost $3 billion over five years to do so. In India, the firm has 70 channels delivered via cable and satellite TV providers. Disney stated in a statement on Tuesday that it can still market Disney+Hotstar through traditional methods.
