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According to data from subscriber-measurement firm Antenna, Hulu’s subscriber growth has made it Walt Disney ‘s (NYSE:DIS) fastest-growing streaming service.
As The Wall Street Journal reported, Hulu subscribers have topped Disney+, while in 18 of the past 24 months, Hulu’s new subscriptions surpassed Disney+ in the last six quarters.
While Hulu’s subscriber growth is moving positively, Disney Chief set a target of between 230 million and 260 million Disney+ subscribers and profitability for Disney+ by September 2024. However, some shareholders don’t believe that is attainable for the company’s flagship streaming service.
Despite Hulu’s strong growth, its number of subscribers, 41.4 million, is dwarfed by that of Disney+, which has 137.7 million subscribers, according to the latest company figures.
Some analysts believe streaming is a drag on Disney’s share price, with the streaming segment losing $887 million in the most recent quarter.
On Friday, Disney announced that the price of ESPN+, another of its streaming services, would increase from $6.99 to $9.99 per month, despite consumers dealing with soaring inflation.
The WSJ said the Antenna data indicates that Disney+ growth has leveled off since its launch in 2019, but it has solidified a core fan base with Hulu subscribers said to be less loyal than Disney+ customers.
Antenna’s chief executive, Jonathan Carson, told the WSJ that Disney+ “did a great job of teeing up those hard-core Disney fans.”
