Disney is facing its first annual loss in 40 years after reporting a fourth quarter loss of $710 million, its second straight down quarter. The company did beat revenue expectations, generating $14.71 billion, but was still down 23% year-over-year.
Cable revenue grew 11% year-over-year, in part because of ESPN’s added sports programming. However, the Disney-owned company accounted for a 7% year-over-year dip in cable network operating income due to the programming and production costs of the rescheduled NBA and MLB seasons.
Prior to the earnings report, ESPN had its largest layoffs in company history and restructured its leadership. More sports content is also getting pushed behind the ESPN+ paywall as Disney builds out its premium services and streaming.
Disney Streaming Subscribers:
Disney+: 73.7 million (up from 57.5 million in Q3)
Hulu: 36.6 million (up from 32.1 million)
ESPN+: 10.3 million (up from 8.5 million)
