Disney’s woke streaming services are still hemorrhaging money at an alarming rate, losing more than $1 billion a quarter at a time when CEO Bob Iger is trying to put the brakes on the company’s runaway spending habits.
For its first fiscal quarter, Disney’s direct-to-consumer business — which includes Disney+, Hulu, and other services — lost $1.05 billion, a 78 percent larger loss from the same period a year ago. The figure represents a slight sequential improvement from the fourth quarter, which saw a $1.5 billion loss for the unit.
Disney beat investor’s predictions for the quarter (top and bottom lines), but its streaming business lost more than $1 billion. Disney+ et al. grew its sales by 13 percent to $5.3 billion, but it spent $6.3 billion.
And @disneyplus lost 2.4 million subscribers pic.twitter.com/B8klx7eGf4
— Edmund Lee (@edmundlee) February 8, 2023
The latest results come as domestic Disney+ subscriptions barely rose for the period, which included the Christmas season that normally would see a sizable bump in new customers. Worldwide, Disney+ lost 2.4 million subscribers, mostly due to its deal with India’s HotStar.
Disney+ has been wrestling with sluggish domestic subscriber growth in recent month as the streamer has increasingly embraced woke identity politics in its entertainment geared toward children.
As Breitbart News reported, the Disney+ series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is pushing reparations for slavery, claiming in its latest episode that America was founded on “white supremacy” and “still has not atoned” for its racism.
Disney+ recently featured a transgender “man” who menstruates in its animated Baymax series for kids. The streamer has also cast a drag queen and a “trans-masculine” actress in the upcoming Marvel superhero series Ironheart.
Hulu has also gone full woke with its docuseries adaptation The 1619 Project. The series has attempted to resurrect the original New York Times series’ most contentious and debunked claim — that the Revolutionary War was fought in large part to preserve slavery.
The series also features the Times’ Nikole Hannah-Jones making accusations of racism against millions of Americans, claiming they don’t want to share democracy with people of color.
On Wednesday, Iger announced Disney will lay off 7,000 employees, or 3.2 percent of its workforce, in an effort to cut spending. Overall, he is aiming to slash a stunning $5.5 billion in spending in an attempt to save the once formidable company.
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