Op-ed: Apps promised to free us from ad-supported subscription bundles. Oops!

For a moment, it seemed like the streaming apps were the things that could save us from the hegemony of cable TV—a system where you had to pay for a ton of stuff you didn’t want to watch so you could see the handful of things you were actually interested in.

Archived version: https://archive.ph/K4EIh

  • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    11·
    1 year ago

    Is Disney+ bleeding money or is that just fancy accounting realizing costs that increase the other parts of Disney’s revenue?

    • AccidentalLemming@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      1 year ago

      I only have this NYTimes quote:

      Disney’s streaming operation lost $512 million in the most-recent quarter, the company said, bringing total streaming losses since 2019, when Disney+ was introduced, to more than $11 billion. Disney+ lost roughly 11.7 million subscribers worldwide in the three months that ended July 1, for a new total of 146.1 million.

      I don’t think it’s in Disney’s interest to make things look worse than they are for investors. They’re a publicly traded company and rich investors don’t like being lied to, so I’d assume the SEC would step in if they did.

      • ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        1 year ago

        Disney is a bit unique with their streaming, though, because their content helps foster interest in their merchandise, parks, theatre movies, etc. The more engagement with their streaming content, the more likely someone is to engage with some other part of their business. Also, if I’m watching Disney+, I’m not watch any other streaming services (at that moment). They want to be a dominant streaming service because it helps them dominate in the parts of their business.

        Netflix, Paramount+, etc. don’t really have that, at least not to the same degree. Prime is more similar, because while you’re not investing in their own merchandise as much, you might be more like to use Prime shipping or music if you have Prime for video streaming (and vice versa).

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        It wouldn’t be a lie, it would just be accounting. And honestly I don’t know the accounting practices around such large organizations.

        Basically Disney+ charges Disney studios for Disney IP. Disney studios gets $3B let’s say over x amount of time for the deal, and Disney+ spends that amount of money. Meaning Disney+ loses money, while the Disney portfolio as a whole breaks even on the trade. That’s not even to mention the value there is bringing people into the Disney ecosystem, making it more likely to visit them parks and buy more merchandise.

        I don’t think it’s fair to look at Disney+ in a vacuum to compare to other services.