Disney reported subscriber numbers across its streaming services Thursday, showing that total subscriber numbers for both Hulu and Hulu with Live have reached 41.6 million. While the basic tier of Hulu added 2.4 million subscribers, reaching 37.8 million up from 35.4 million in the previous quarter, Hulu with Live lost 200,000 subscribers, coming in at 3.8 million from 4 million in the previous quarter.
While Hulu with Live saw a decline again in the most recent quarter, the streaming service is working on bringing in new subscribers with additional channels, new content, and by offering ESPN+ as a Hulu add-on. Hulu recently added another nine ViacomCBS channels to its lineup after making a deal to add 14 channels in total in January. A deal was also made with Discovery to keep Discovery-owned channels on the live TV guide after rumors that those channels would be removed as content was moved to Discovery+. The company also made an update that allows users to access ESPN+ content through Hulu and just last week announced that UFC pay per view events can now be bought and viewed through Hulu.
Disney pointed to the pandemic’s lasting impact on the entertainment industry as a reason for the slow down.
“We have experienced disruptions in the production and availability of content, including the cancellation or shift of key live sports programming from fiscal 2020 into the first quarter of fiscal 2021, as well as the suspension of production of most film and television content. Although most film and television production resumed beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, we continue to see disruption of film and television production, as well as live sporting events, depending on local circumstances.”