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“The Book of Boba Fett” arrived on Disney+ in December. But analysts say that the service needs more offerings for older viewers and people without months ago, Disney’s all-important streaming service was continuing to breeze past Wall Street’s expectations for subscriber sign-ups. Disney shares were trading at around $180, a big increase from a year earlier. Sounding almost giddy, Bob Chapek, Disney’s chief executive, told analysts that the Delta variant of the coronavirus had not dented theme park attendance, calling ticket sales “pretty darn good.”
Disney shares have fallen 20 percent since then, the result of slowing growth at the Disney+ service and investor concerns about the streaming business in general. The worry is that a glut of services (Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, ESPN+) have started to cannibalize each other and wear consumers out: The thrill is gone. In addition, the Omicron variant surged just in time for the end-of-year holidays, when Disney theme parks are usually jam-packed.
Can Mr. Chapek reverse the narrative?
Disney will report quarterly earnings after the close of trading on Wednesday, and nothing short of a star performance will do. Last month, Netflix said it added 8.3 million subscribers in its most recent quarter, instead of the projected 8.5 million, and forecast a slowdown for the current quarter compared with a year earlier. Netflix shares immediately cratered 20 percent, dragging down Disney and other media companies with them.
Analysts are expecting Disney+ to have added at least seven million subscribers in the last quarter, for a new total of about 125 million.
“Disney is now paying the price for doing so well out of the gate with streaming,” said Michael Nathanson, a leading media analyst, referring to the fact that Disney+ surpassed its five-year subscriber goal in just its first nine months. “What do they do now to stand out? How much of the slowdown is because of a lack of content breadth — not enough for older people and people without kids?”
He added: “There is a lot of concern in the market about streaming all of a sudden. People are more negative than they have been.”
After a drawn-out farewell, Robert A. Iger, Disney’s previous chief executive and executive chairman, formally left the company at the end of last year, making Wednesday’s earnings report Mr. Chapek’s solo debut. He is expected to highlight the recent success of “Encanto,” which arrived on Disney+ just before the quarter ended. “The Book of Boba Fett,” a limited series set in the “Star Wars” universe, also began rolling out on Disney+ in December, with the company’s hoping to build on the momentum of “The Mandalorian,” one of the service’s top performers.
In terms of the range of content, Disney+ found success in November with Peter Jackson’s documentary series “The Beatles: Get Back.” That offering drove 209,000 Disney+ sign-ups in its opening period (the day it was released and the two days after), according to Antenna, a research company.

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Source: New York Times

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