Does Disney Have an Overseas Problem?

It’s a small world but Mickey isn’t reaching enough of it. To win the Streaming Wars, he’ll need to get out of the house more. And, no, the trip to Epcot doesn’t count.

On Wednesday, Disney reported relatively strong results in its latest earnings call, with a revenue beat and a significant profit jump. But look under the hood, and it’s clear that Disney’s streaming business has a real weakness in international markets — at least, compared with its chief competition. It’s both a problem and an opportunity.

A Whole New World (of Potential Subscribers)

Outside of streaming, things are pretty breezy in the Magic Kingdom: Animated smash Moana 2 fueled a strong quarter at the box office – you’re welcome – while Disney’s experiences unit saw revenue growth of 3% year-over-year, even as a pair of hurricanes battered Orlando. Heck, still-reigning CEO Bob Iger even said its linear TV business, long on a Titanic-esque trajectory, is “not a burden at all” and “actually an asset” (though he didn’t rule out a Comcast-esque sale or spin-off of some of its linear networks). Overall net income jumped 23% year-over-year to hit $2.6 billion — that should cover some extra fireworks at tonight’s Main Street parade in Disneyland.

But streaming, of course, remains “the future of the television business,” Iger said. And this quarter was somewhat rocky. While Hulu gained about 1.6 million subscribers in the quarter, Disney+ lost 700,000 subscribers in the same period — though analysts had expected even higher churn due to a recent price hike. Disney said to expect another decline in the current quarter. The losses stemmed entirely from international markets (the service saw an 800,000 subscriber gain in the US and Canada), which underlines the company’s biggest problem:

• According to a recent report from industry research firm Parrot Analytics, Disney trails way behind Netflix and Amazon Prime in key international markets. Netflix has about triple the subscribers of Disney+ in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, while Amazon Prime has about double (Europe, with its high average revenue per user mark, is a key streaming battleground). 
• Netflix has roughly double the subscribers in Latin America, while Amazon Prime has about 26% more subs. In the Asia Pacific region, Disney narrowly trails its competitors thanks to its significant stake in regional streamer Hotstar — though Hotstar brings relatively lower average revenue per user.

Language Barrier: Unlike its rivals, Disney has mostly forgone developing or acquiring shows and movies from international markets, betting marquee franchises can translate across regions. Who needs Squid Game when you already have Star Wars? But that strategy may be starting to crack. Per Parrot, “demand share” for Disney’s original content — a proxy for the strength of its IP — slipped over 1% in 2024 compared with the year prior, as rivals ate away at its industry-leading position. The iconography of Marvel comics and mouse ears can only get you so far in 2025, it seems.