Losses widened for Disney+Hotstar streaming services, incurring a loss of ₹748.34 in FY23 compared to a loss of ₹343.16 in the previous financial year. This is a 118 per cent increase in losses.
This data was provided by the MCA filings of Novi Digital Entertainment, the company that owns, operates, and manages Star India’s streaming platform, Disney+ Hotstar Inc.
Disney+ Hotstar also reported a total turnover of ₹4,340.79 crore for the period 2022–23. The platform’s revenue from operations increased by 34.79 per cent compared to ₹3,220.41 crore in the previous financial year. Revenue growth has slowed down, especially as the OTT company reported a 91 per cent year-on-year increase in turnover in FY22.
Ad revenue
According to the company’s financial data, accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler, the streaming platforms’ advertisement revenue for FY23 grew 17.25 per cent to ₹1,974.80 in FY23 compared to ₹1,684.31 crore in the previous fiscal. This is a marked slowdown in growth, especially as the streaming service reported 2X growth in ad revenues in FY22.
This clearly illustrates that the ad environment for streaming companies is on the decline, especially as this degrowth can also not be blamed upon losing prime content properties such as the Indian Premier League, which started airing on Viacom18-owned JioCinema in FY24.
Subscription revenue
Meanwhile, the company’s subscription revenue has increased 49.32 per cent to ₹2,051.03 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2023, against ₹1,373.61 crore in the previous fiscal. The revenue from licencing content rights grew by 93.83 per cent to ₹314.96 crore, compared to ₹162.49 crore in FY22.
Disney+Hotstar’s poor financial performance further cements why Disney wishes to consolidate and exit the Indian market. Disney is in discussion with Reliance, and perhaps even Sony, about exploring a merger with the broadcasting firms.
Published on November 28, 2023
