More broadly, he credited the strength of Disney’s sports programming and its string of successful new series and films.

Recent releases such as Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine, helped buoy the company’s content sales and licensing business, which improved by over $350 million from the prior year. 

Inside Out 2 has generated $1.5 billion globally and become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, while Deadpool & Wolverine opened to $444 million globally, making it the biggest opening weekend for an R-rated movie ever. In its first two weeks, the film grossed more than $850 million globally

“Overall, the ad market is strong and healthy for us,” Iger said “A lot of that is a product of the fact that we have live sports and the fact that our streaming service is doing so well in terms of the IP that we have.”

ARPU shifts, subscriber gains and further price increase

As Disney’s streaming business grows, some strategic shifts have changed its unit economics.

The company gained 700,000 new Disney+ accounts and 900,000 Hulu accounts, increases of 1% and 2%, respectively. The growth is moderate, and Disney expects similarly cautious growth for the next quarter.

The annual revenue per user (ARPU) of Disney+ subscribers also decreased this quarter, falling 3%, while it increased for Hulu. According to Iger, the drop in per-subscriber revenue comes as a result of the company’s bundled offerings and more users subscribing to its ad-based tier.

To offset this decline and further accelerate profitability, Disney announced Tuesday that it planned to once again raise the price of its streaming services — its third such price hike since December 2022.

Starting mid-October, most plans for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ will cost $1 to $2 more per month. Disney+ basic and premium will be priced at $9.99 and $15.99, respectively. Hulu with ads will cost $9.99 monthly, while Hulu without ads will cost $18.99 per month. ESPN+, which features ads, will cost $11.99 per month.

“We’re seeing growth in the consumption and the popularity of our offerings, which gives us the pricing leverage that we believe we believe we have,” Iger said. “So every time we’ve had a price increase, we’ve had only modest churn from that—nothing that we would consider significant.”