Disney said it plans to stop reporting subscribers numbers with its quarterly reports, calling the numbers less meaningful to evaluating its business following Netflix move to do the the same.
“We are focused on managing our businesses to deliver growth in a sustained way, and to align ourfinancial reporting with how we operate. Since we began reporting the number of paid subscribers andARPU, our DTC strategy and the operating environment have evolved,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger and CFO Hugh Johnston in earnings commentary along with the fiscal third quarter numbers.
“Given this evolution, we plan to implement changes to our Entertainment and Sports financial disclosures. Among our planned changes, we believe quarterly updates on the number of paid subscribers and ARPU have become less meaningful to evaluating the performance of our businesses, and we will no longer report these metrics starting with the first quarter of fiscal 2026 for Disney+ and Hulu and the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 for ESPN+. While we will no longer disclose subscribers and ARPU, we will provide information on Entertainment Direct-to-Consumer profitability,” the duo said.
Disney’s fiscal year ends in September.
“We believe our reporting going forward will better align with changes in the media landscape, theunique nature of our integrated assets, how we operate our businesses, and will reflect how management evaluates the progress and success of our strategic initiatives.”
Netflix announced in the spring of 2024 that it would stop reporting quarterly subscribers numbers as of this year, a shocker for Wall Street and Hollywood that prompted speculation that other streamers would soon follow suit. Netflix said its using revenue and operating margin as our primary financial metrics and engagement as its best proxy for customer satisfaction. With new revenue streams like advertising and the extra member feature, “memberships are just one component of our growth,” the giant streamer said at the time. It does provide a comprehensive look at viewing data twice a years.
Disney+ hit 128 million subscribers in the June quarter, adding 1.8 million from FYQ2. Disney+ and Hulu subs combined rose to 183 million. Hulu grew to 55.5 million total subscribers including 4.3 million with Live TV, which declined slightly.
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