For the second time this week, Disney has rolled out its flagship streaming service internationally. After debuting in 24 countries on Tuesday, on Thursday, Disney+ became available in Israel for the first time.
The latest launch was the last of 42 new countries and territories that the streamer had announced for summer expansion back in March.
The increased international presence for the streamer comes as Disney+ looks to improve upon the 137.7 million subscribers worldwide that it reported at the end of the first quarter of 2022. Following Q1, the total included 93.3M Disney+ subscribers internationally. However, that total does appear to be in jeopardy currently.
For more than a year, Disney CEO Bob Chapek has remained steadfast on the company’s guidance that the streamer would hit its goal of 230 to 260 million subscribers by 2024. However, Disney+’s ability to reach that total appears to have become more difficult this week as the company was outbid for the streaming rights to Indian Premier League cricket.
In India, the wildly popular league is viewed very much like the NFL in the U.S. and the Premier League in the U.K. The IPL helped drive over 50 million Disney+ subscriptions in the country, but the new streaming rights deal went to Viacom18 for $2.6 billion. Instead of streaming the league, Disney opted for the traditional broadcast rights to IPL games, which cost $3B.
The thought process behind the shift was that subscribers to Disney+ Hotstar (the name of the service in India) only generate $0.76 monthly per user — nearly $6 less than every other country. Wall Street analysts had long been concerned that Disney’s strategy to chase subscribers at all costs could end up losing the company money, and this change in focus appears to signal that Disney execs agree.
While the move from streaming to broadcasting the IPL could very well prove to be more financially successful for Disney, it is expected to result in as many as 20 million cancelations for Disney+ in India.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”