Hulu Sees Increase of 900k Subscribers During Q3 2024, Now Reports 51.1 Million Customers
Hulu and other Disney streamers continue to be ahead of the curve. Disney is one fiscal quarter ahead of most other companies in its reporting, which means it’s ready to report its third quarter — the period from the start of April to the end of June — earnings. The company did just that Wednesday, and as part of the report revealed that its general entertainment streaming service Hulu added 900,000 customers, coming to a new total of 51.1 million.
Last quarter, Hulu hit a record subscriber high when it claimed 50.2 million customers.
Hulu’s numbers include viewers subscribed to its live TV service Hulu + Live TV, which now has 4.4 customers. That’s a decrease of 100,00 from last quarter, when Hulu + Live TV had 4.5 million subscribers; the spring and summer tend to be slower periods for all linear TV distributors. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for Hulu’s on-demand platform was $12.73 during the quarter, up from last quarter’s $11.84. Hulu + Live TV’s ARPU was $96.11, a change of 1% from last quarter’s $95.01.
Hulu remains far behind Netflix, which recently reported having more than 277 million subscribers around the world. Warner Bros. Discovery has 99.6 million streaming customers at last count, the vast majority of whom use Max. Paramount+ last claimed 71.2 million, and Peacock is steadily rising, having reached 34 million customers at last count.
What Were Hulu’s Biggest Stories in Q1 2024?
Hulu and other Disney streaming services will see their subscription prices rise for the third year in a row come October, which the company announced mere hours before unveiling its quarterly earnings report. Ad-supported Hulu will cost $9.99 per month under the new price schedule, and ad-free will climb to $18.99.
Offering some relief to customers is the new Disney+ Hulu Max Bundle, which went on sale at the end of July. That bundle costs $16.99 per month to stream without ads, or $29.99 to upgrade to ad-free.
Outside of pricing and bundle news, the biggest story of the quarter regarding Hulu is Disney’s ongoing process of trying to buy the last 33% of the streamer from Comcast. The process has been laid out for months, but Disney and Comcast had significant disagreements over valuation of Hulu, and the investment banks they’ve hired to independently appraise the service have done likewise. The process is now in the hands of a third banker, which is trying to reconcile the differences and come to a fair price for Hulu.
Hulu
Hulu is a video streaming service that gives access to thousands of full seasons of exclusive series, hit movies, kids shows, and Hulu Originals like “Only Murders in the Building,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”