Disney+ Hotstar has around 28.4 million subscribers in India and Indonesia, and the company makes US$0.90 per subscriber to the service, Disney chief financial officer Christine McCarthy said during a call with investors. This information is as of January 12, 2021, which is when Disney’s first quarter, Q1FY21, ended.
“Disney+ Hotstar subscriber additions continued their strong growth trend with Disney+ Hotstar subscribers making up approximately 30% of our global subscriber base” of 94.9 million, McCarthy said. “Disney+’s overall ARPU this quarter was $4.03. However, excluding Disney+ Hotstar it was $5.37,” she said.
The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) has shrunk significantly, almost threefold, from the last time Disney made the information available. However, the company said it added 10 million paying subscribers, reflecting the full impact of the Indian Premier League and overseas launches. In November 2020, the platforms’ ARPU stood at Rs 160 as the IPL concluded, which was three times higher than before. But it looks like the effect of IPL-driven subscriptions has ended; either that, or Disney may have disclosed revenue for its annual plans’ upfront payments by counting them as revenue for a single quarter, instead of counting them as revenue across four quarters.
In any case, the outcome is that Hotstar’s premium revenue is back to the sub-dollar level in ARPU terms. Hotstar has also launched in Singapore on top of Indonesia, expanding its footprint to almost half a dozen countries, including the United States.
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