Star India’s revenue from sports increased 1% to $279 million in the third quarter ended June against $277 million a year ago while its sports programming and production costs surged 22% to $555 million.
Star India’s affiliate revenue decreased 31% to $60 million during the quarter due to lower effective rates. Ad revenue was up 19% to $217 million due to the T20 World Cup.
For the nine-month period ended June, Star India’s sports losses surged 48% to $656 million, while revenue rose 23% to $783 million. Sports programming and production expenses jumped 37% to $1.3 billion, Walt Disney said in its earnings report.
Star’s streaming service Disney+ Hotstar reported a 1% decline in paid subscriber base to 35.5 million while average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased 50% to $1.05 due to ad revenue growth.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company achieved profitability across its combined streaming businesses for the first time and a quarter ahead of its previous guidance. “This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our entertainment segment both at the box office and in DTC,” he stated. Disney reported a 19% surge in operating income at $4.2 billion while revenue increased 4% to $23 billion.
