Disney Streaming Businesses Had $738 Million Loss Last Year, Says New Breakout

Disney’s streaming and overseas business operations, newly broken out publicly into a “recast” Direct-to-Consumer and International (DCTI) financial-reporting “segment,” incurred a $738 million operating loss in the year ended Sept. 29, a $454 million increase from a year earlier, said an 8-K SEC filing Friday. Disney previously reported the results of its DCTI operations under three other business segments, it said. Disney blamed the higher DCTI loss on the consolidation of financial results from BAMTech, in which it upped its stake to 75 percent in September 2017 (see 1709200034), plus higher than expected losses from Hulu, of which it would become 60 percent owner at the closing of the Fox acquisition. DTCI revenue jumped 11 percent for the year to $3.4 billion, including $1.4 billion in affiliate fees, $1.3 billion in ad proceeds and the rest from subscription fees, it said. Acquiring majority control of BAMTech enabled Disney “to enter the DTC space quickly and effectively, as demonstrated by the success" of the ESPN Plus launch, said CEO Bob Iger. ESPN Plus topped a million subscribers in its first five months and “continues to grow as it expands its content mix, all of which bodes well” for the debut this year of the Disney Plus DTC service, he said. The “robust slate” of Disney Plus original content will include the first live-action Star Wars series, and other “high-profile projects” currently in production or development, he said. Disney will disclose “greater detail” at its April 11 Investor Day conference, he said, including a first look at the original content Disney’s TV and film studios are creating “exclusively for the new streaming service.”