After Failures, Disney Pulling Away From Streaming Service

Disney CEO Bob Iger has some difficult decisions to make, especially regarding streaming.

When fans in the U.S. think about Disney and streaming, their minds immediately go to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN. These three major assets have been an integral part of Disney’s business structure, particularly in the last few years, but the company has not seen as much growth as it would like to have seen on this front thus far.

Though these prospects continue to be a major part of The Walt Disney Company moving forward, there are other assets that the House of Mouse has chosen to pull away from as it looks toward 2024.

As previously reported by Inside the Magic, The Walt Disney Company recently entered a non-binding agreement with Reliance Industries, paving the way for a merger of their operations in India. This prospective merger has the potential to establish one of India’s most substantial entertainment conglomerates, marking a significant chapter in the country’s entertainment industry. The latest updates on this agreement have been extensively covered by Deadline, offering valuable insights into the merger’s intricacies.

The merger is slated to be completed this month.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Group assumes a majority ownership stake of 51% in the merged entity, with The Walt Disney Company retaining the remaining 49% of shares. This agreement was officially sealed in London in December.

These developments follow The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of Star India’s Hotstar platform in 2019, a pivotal move made possible through Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) and its assets, an acquisition valued at over $70 billion.

As February has arrived, the new merger should soon be in effect. This will effectively still keep Disney in the Indian market, with the hopes that the merger will help increase its bottom line. Though the company will not own a majority stake and will be pulling away some of its assets, it will still be very involved in the market.

During a recent earnings call back in November, Bob Iger emphasized the importance of maintaining a presence in India while also striving to improve financial performance. Disney+ Hotstar stands as its largest streaming service by user base, even though it experienced a noticeable decline in subscribers throughout 2023. This decline posed challenges for both Disney and Disney+, as the streaming service had yet to turn a profit since its launch in 2019.

In 2023, Disney+ remained in the red, but Iger is resolute in his commitment to rectify this situation.

As far as streaming goes in the U.S., Disney just made a major change to its platforms, including a warning that says you are no longer allowed to share passwords with those living outside your home on both Disney+ and Hulu. More developments are expected to come soon on this front, but nothing else has been announced at this time.