Disney CEO Projects Lower Q4 2021 Subscriber Numbers

Disney CEO Bob Chapek warned on Tuesday afternoon of lower long-term subscriber growth for the fourth quarter for Disney+, definitely muted over the strides made in Q3.

Chapek made the comments during the annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference.

During the company’s Q3 earnings call in August, Disney announced that Disney+ added 12.4 million subscribers in Q3 2021 for a total of 116 million overall — that was up from 103.6 million in the second quarter. The continued release of Marvel shows like Loki has provided a steady stream of content, while a combination of Premier Access blockbusters and complementary new Pixar titles kept movie fans satisfied during the summer months.

“We’re (still) very confident about our long-term sub growth as we have been in Q4 (of 2021). I think what you can expect to see is that our global paid subs will increase by low single-digit millions of subscribers versus Q3,” Chapek said on Tuesday. “Our core markets sub growth will continue, both domestically and internationally in Q4 … We hit some headwinds; I already talked about Latin America — again, trying to mobilize the partners (to) get that thing (Star+) going, just like we saw with Disney Plus.”

Star+ launched in Latin America on August 30 as a standalone service, separate from Disney+, but containing much of the same content that Hulu streams in the United States and is included under Star as a marquee of Disney+ in other markets.

Chapek’s forecast is significantly lower than some estimates by Wall Street analysts. CNBC reported that Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Kraft had projected Disney+ net adds of about 13 million for Q4.

“One thing that I think we’re not exactly aligned with … is the quarter-to-quarter business is not linear,” Chapek said, trying to put a more positive spin on things.

He admitted the surge in COVID-19 cases from the Delta variant around the world likely played a part in the lower numbers. ‘Mobilizing partners’ in Latin America to push Star+, the COVID-related suspension of the Indian Premier League cricket competition — whose games appear on Disney’s Hotstar service in that nation, and now streaming on ESPN+ in the United States — as well as other production delays related to the Delta variant, have all hurt subscriber numbers during the fourth quarter.