Is Netflix’s loss Disney’s gain?

Netflix is haemorrhaging subscribers. The streaming giant said last month it lost 200,000 customers

Netflix is haemorrhaging subscribers. The streaming giant said last month it lost 200,000 customers in the March ending quarter, the first time it has shed subscribers since 2011. Its decision to pull out of Russia following the Ukraine invasion cost the company another 700,000 customers.And the bleeding may not stop in the near future as the FAANG company is projected to lose another two million customers in the June ending quarter.

For a company that has been adding roughly about 25 million users annually, a loss in subscription will take longer to heal as competition intensifies in the streaming video market. And its rivals are increasing their market share.

Disney Plus is adding more viewers. The streaming service reported its March ending earnings on Wednesday. During the period, the company added 7.9 million subscribers added and total subscriptions across all its DTC offerings exceeded 205 million. Its other services include Hulu and ESPN Plus.

While subscriptions jumped, the streaming service’s cost also increased. Costs related to programming and producing content, marketing and technology had offset the revenue increase that came from higher subscriptions.

India’s annual summer cricket season was a double-edged sword for the company.  The Indian Premier League (IPL) helped it gain more viewers, but also increased its programming cost.

“Higher costs for cricket programming were due to the airing of ten IPL cricket matches in the current quarter compared to none in the prior-year quarter and contractual rate increases for Board of Control for Cricket in India matches,” the company said in its earnings statement.

The increase in costs was due to higher subscriber-based fees for programming live streaming service from more networks, it added.