When Disney kicks off its own streaming service later this year, it will pull back its content from others like Netflix. Once it does, the Mouse House will be losing the revenue it would receive from rival services like Netflix and HBO in order to prop up the new service.
Now, during Disney’s quarterly earnings conference call on Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger put a figure on how much revenue they will forgo in operating income in the current fiscal year alone (ending Sept 30th). That figure? $150 million.
Much of that will come from the studios big 2019 releases which, starting with “Captain Marvel,” will be held back as an exclusive offering for Disney+ rather than go through the usual after-market sale windows. They will also incur significant expenses in both launching the service and creating original content for it.
A big unveiling and demo showcasing what to expect with Disney+ are scheduled to take place as part of an Investor Day presentation on April 11th.
Iger also says he expects FX Networks, which they will own once the Fox acquisition sale is done, to create content for Hulu which Disney will control 60% of and will be fashioned as an adult-oriented streaming platform.
