Disney has announced the launch of a new streaming service for 2021 under the Star brand, which it acquired from Fox. The new platform will offer content that the Californian group already owns, including ABC Studios, Fox Television, FX, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight. It will be fully integrated with Disney + in many markets.
Number of subscribers: four years ahead of the minimum target
Thanks to the pandemic, Disney has found the chosen one of its choir: direct streaming of content to consumers, already a priority before the health crisis, is now the subject of all its attentions. In all, Disney now has 100 million paying subscribers for its platforms (Disney +, ESPN + and Hulu), thanks to its abundant catalogs and the Star Wars universe , but also to confinement. The service hit its minimum subscriber target four years ahead of schedule.
The Disney + platform, which reached 60.5 million subscribers on Monday, will host the film Mulan exclusively for now, after its theatrical release has been delayed several times and now postponed indefinitely .
Health crisis: considerable losses despite increasing streaming
From April to June, only Disney's streaming services branch achieved higher revenue than the same period a year ago: nearly $ 4 billion, compared to $ 3.9 billion in 2019.
Conversely, the activity of amusement parks, cruises, events and derivative products plunged 85%, to $ 983 million linked to the negative impact of the new coronavirus on physical activities. (parks, cruises, etc.). In other sectors, the loss of income is partly offset by the drop in production costs, as filming and travel are at a standstill.
In total, Disney made $ 11.8 billion in revenue, half as much as a year ago, and ended up with a net loss of $ 4.7 billion in the third quarter of its staggered fiscal year, up from nearly of $ 2 billion in net profit last year.
The Californian group remains "optimistic"
After having saved on the production of new films, Disney will have to deal with higher costs to ensure the safety of the filming which resumes.
Bob Chapek nevertheless declared himself “as optimistic as possible” for the remainder of the year: “Of course we have The Mandalorian 2 [the Star Wars series produced by Disney +], which we announced for October, and also a slew of of Marvel content that is coming and that we look forward to. "
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