The streamer also ended the year by adding 7 million subscribers in the fourth fiscal quarter, including nearly 2 million to its ad-supported tier.
Recently, the company announced that 50% of new Disney+ subscribers choose the ad tier, and from March to September 2023, the service has seen a 35% increase in engagement.
And the streamer has big things coming in 2024.
In November, the company moved to acquire the final 33% stake in Hulu, held by Comcast, in a deal that should be completed in 2024. Disney already owns two-thirds of Hulu, which has around 48 million subscribers.
Plus, in an ongoing TV consolidation trend, Disney+ and Hulu have already become one app for bundle subscribers, bringing a beta version of a Hulu hub to Disney+. Ahead of a full integration coming in March, ad sales chief Rita Ferro told Adweek the results are already better than expected.
MAXimum rebranding
In one of the biggest rebrands of the year, Warner Bros. Discovery combined content from HBO Max and Discovery+ to form Max, a new streamer with a much-talked-about blue logo.
In 2022, CEO David Zaslav opted not to break out separate subscriber numbers between HBO Max and Discovery+, but the two services ended the year with 94.9 million global subscribers.
WBD has since posted a modest gain, ending 2023 with 95.1 million overall direct-to-consumer subscribers.
Even with Max still being a new product, another major streaming rebrand could be on the way.
Reports are now swirling that Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount are in talks for a possible merger, and onlookers are once again left with more questions than answers regarding the future of David Zaslav’s company.
It’s showtime for Paramount+
In addition to Max, Paramount+ also went through consolidation in 2023.
Last year, Paramount officially sunsetted the Showtime app, rolling out Paramount+ With Showtime (and hiking prices) in June. The combined streamer now has around 63 million subscribers, a significant jump from the 46 million it ended 2022 with.
The company also brought its streaming plan to linear, transforming its Showtime linear channel into Paramount+ With Showtime.
