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How did Disney+ subscriber numbers change quarter-by-quarter in 2024–2025?
Executive summary
Disney+ subscriber totals moved unevenly across 2024–2025 as Disney shifted reporting (a Star India/Hotstar transaction was applied from Nov. 14, 2024) and the company reported both quarterly gains and small declines: Disney reported 122.7 million Disney+ Core subs at the end of its fiscal Q4 2024 (Sept. quarter), then a reported 124.6 million in the fiscal Q1 2025 report after a small Q4-to-Q1 drop in some tallies; later reporting through mid‑2025 shows sequential gains back into the high‑120s and low‑130s as Disney combined Disney+ with bundle and carriage growth (Star India adjustments noted) [1] [2] [3] [4]. Available sources do not provide a single, straight quarter‑by‑quarter table covering every quarter of 2024–2025 without breaks—reporting changes (Hotstar/Star India transaction) and different “Core” vs. global aggregates create the discrepancies [3].
1. Why the headline numbers don’t line up — a reporting change that matters
Disney changed how it counts and presents its India business after the Star India transaction completed Nov. 14, 2024; Statista warns numbers were “adjusted for Q4 2024 and the following quarters and are therefore not comparable with the previous quarters,” which directly affects quarter‑to‑quarter comparisons spanning calendar 2024 into fiscal 2025 [3]. Several outlets therefore distinguish “Disney+ Core” (ex‑Hotstar India) from the global aggregate that includes Hotstar; that distinction explains multiple simultaneous figures in the public record [1] [5].
2. What Disney reported in the late‑2024 / early‑2025 cycle
For the quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2024 (fiscal Q4 2024), Disney reported 122.7 million Disney+ Core paid subscribers, an increase of 4.4 million versus the prior quarter (the summer surge) [1]. Subsequent reporting that covers the final calendar quarter of 2024 / fiscal Q1 2025 shows a different picture in some tallies: several outlets cite a Disney+ total of about 124.6 million as of the fiscal Q1 report, noting a loss of roughly 700,000 subs in the calendar Q4 period in some calculations [2] [6]. Those differences stem from which series (Core vs. Hotstar‑inclusive) and which cutoffs journalists used [2] [5].
3. Mid‑2025: growth resumes in Disney’s public filings
By the June 2025 quarter, Disney’s public filings and coverage show sequential growth: core Disney+ subscribers were reported at roughly 128 million by the end of the June quarter, with combined Disney+ and Hulu totals reaching ~183 million and a sequential Disney+ Core increase of about 1.8 million in that period [4]. Company earnings in May and August 2025 also described modest quarter‑over‑quarter subscriber gains and raised guidance tied to promotional/partnership activity [7] [8].
4. The drivers behind the swings — content, pricing, promotions and carriage
Reporters and Disney executives pointed to a summer 2024 content boost (Inside Out 2, other theatrical carryover) for the 4.4 million gain in the Sept. quarter, while later modest declines were attributed by some outlets to price increases, expired promotions, and churn in certain markets [1] [2]. By mid‑2025 Disney also highlighted distributor deals (notably a Charter carriage deal) and expanded bundle/retail promotions as major drivers of the subscriber additions in 2025 [8] [4].
5. Conflicting third‑party tallies and why independent trackers differ
Several third‑party sites and trade outlets publish different totals—some report global aggregates including Hotstar that pushed totals above 150 million in late 2024, while others focus on Disney+ Core and show lower figures [5] [1] [9]. The timing of earnings calls, the company’s changing disclosures, and regional carve‑outs mean independent tallies will diverge unless they explicitly match Disney’s accounting treatment for each quarter [3] [10].
6. What’s missing or uncertain in current reporting
Available sources do not provide a single consistent, fully reconciled quarter‑by‑quarter table for every consecutive quarter of 2024–2025 without adjustments; Statista explicitly warns comparability is broken after the Star India transaction [3]. Where outlets disagree (for example, whether Q4 calendar 2024 showed a small loss or a net gain depending on the inclusion of Hotstar), both sets of figures are present in the public coverage and driven by the differing definitions used by Disney and third parties [2] [5] [1].
7. Bottom line for readers wanting a clean quarter‑by‑quarter view
To build a consistent quarter‑by‑quarter table, pick and stick to one definition (Disney+ Core vs. Hotstar‑inclusive) and use Disney’s own quarterly filings/press releases for those quarters after Nov. 14, 2024; otherwise you will encounter the exact discrepancies noted by Statista and across trade reporting [3] [11]. For immediate reference: fiscal Q4 2024 Disney+ Core = 122.7M (Sept. quarter); various end‑calendar‑2024 tallies cluster around 124–125M with some outlets noting a ~700k loss in one measurement; by June 2025 Disney+ Core reported into the high‑120s (around 128M) [1] [2] [4].