Hulu Provides Disney’s Only Streaming Bright Spot in Q3 2023, Adding 100,000 Subscribers to Hit 48.3M
During its third-quarter fiscal year earnings report on Thursday, Disney, which owns a majority stake in Hulu, revealed the streamer gained 100,000 users between April and June, settling in at 48.3 million global subscribers. Hulu was the lone Disney platform to gain subscribers, while parent Disney+ got obliterated with a loss of 11.4 million subscribers, mostly overseas.
Hulu has had a strong 2023 so far. The platform has never lost users in a quarter over the last three years. In its first two quarters this year, the streamer added 1 million new subscribers (800,000 in Q1 and 200,000 in Q2, respectively).
The subscriber gain represents a year-over-year increase of 2.1 million subs, or 4.5% since its corresponding quarter in 2022 when Hulu’s combined SVOD and Live TV services reached 46.2 million subscribers. In Q3, Live TV took a bit of a stumble, ending down 100,000. That number is still up 300,000 year-over-year.
Netflix remains the world’s largest streamer at 238.39 million users, followed by Hulu’s sister streamer Disney+, which also reported a subscriber loss of 11.7 million this quarter. Hulu, however, which launched as an ad-supported tier, still relies heavily on its ad-supported tier with the vast majority of its subscription base more than any other streaming service: 90%, or approximately 45 million subscriptions.
In recent months, content cuts have been the main topic of conversation for Disney and Hulu. Hulu's content cuts have been minimal so far, especially compared to Disney+, but that doesn't mean the platform will be safe from a library purge in the future. There has been a lot of back-and-forth-will they-won’t they between Comcast and Disney over whether Disney will buy out Comcasts’ remaining 33.3% stake in the streamer, but Disney continues to reaffirm its plans to bring its brands together into a “one-app experience” before the end of 2023, including Hulu. Disney is still looking to “aggressively” curate its streaming offerings, though, which will likely lead to content cuts before and after the merge, especially as it deals with nearly $2 billion in content removal fees so far.
Despite cuts, Hulu recently launched its Animayhem hub, dedicated to its adult animated and anime series, including its new “Futurama” revival, its original “Solar Opposites,” “The Simpsons,” and more.
The streamer is beefing up its unscripted catalog with multiple new series from A&E as the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike continues, a major issue for Hulu and other Disney properties to continue with in the coming quarter. Subscribers of all major streamers, including Hulu, reported in a recent survey they were more likely to cancel their service if substantial delays occurred, and, in fact, Hulu stands to take the biggest hit, with users saying they are 3.4 times more likely to cancel their subscription.
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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.”