It has been a bad year for Disney. The struggling mouse has taken hit after hit, primarily by their own doing, as the woke company has racked up massive losses at the box office and on its streaming services. Disney reportedly was on track to lose nearly $750 million across 13 box office flops in just over the last year. The studio managed to lose money on the “Toy Story” franchise with the “Lightyear” spinoff and even ruined Indiana Jones.
The company dueled with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the state’s Parental Rights Bill, and as if that humiliation wasn’t enough, doubled down on gay and transgender storylines aimed at children. Parents took note, and many stayed away from the theaters and shunned content on the streaming services. All of this fed into the largest round of layoffs in company history. More than 7,000 jobs were cut as Disney has struggled to stay financially viable.
In an effort to increase revenue, the streamer hiked its price for Disney+ from $10.99 to $13.99. While that doesn’t seem like much money, it should be noted that Americans are still living in Joe Biden’s America, and consequently, folks have less money to spend on numerous streaming services. In two years alone, the four-year-old service has raised its rate a total of 75 percent. That is simply unacceptable for folks trying to make ends meet.
Disney+ subscribers worldwide stand at around 111 million. Netflix has closer to 260 million, and it appears Disney will never match those numbers. Subscription numbers in America have stagnated, holding at around 46 million for the last year. The lack of growth is concerning for a company with Disney’s name-brand power.
Disney has recently been trying to nudge consumers who don’t want to pay full price into a cheaper tier that is ad-supported. The cost for that option is $7.99 monthly which is what the service used to cost ad-free. Disney generates more money from advertisements, and viewers still have to watch ads despite paying a monthly fee.
Now, according to the most recent numbers, it appears more folks than ever are opting out of their Disney+ subscription. The streamer lost a reported 1.3 million subscribers worldwide during the last three months of 2023. As customers feel the economic crunch, the U.S. and Canada alone saw 400,000 households ditch the service. That marks the largest ever reported domestic decline in the four-year-old streamer.
This is all bad news for Disney, as they continue to throw money at their streaming services, hoping to turn the tide. Instead of simply changing the content and messaging, Disney has doubled down on the controversial, not always family-friendly content. According to GLAAD, of the 59 films Disney released in 2022, 24 of them featured LGBTQ themes and characters. As more attention has been focused on the messaging in many of Disney’s films, more parents have decided they don’t want to answer uncomfortable questions from their children.
Go woke, go broke has been a popular rallying cry for conservatives, and in some cases, it holds true. Bud Light, Target, and Disney have seen massive losses due to their business practices. Rather than course correcting with more family-friendly content, Disney pushed ahead with what many see as inappropriate themes and messaging. The massive loss of subscribers indicates that Disney needs to rethink their business practices before it’s too late.
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