Netflix last disclosed about 325 million subscribers. Disney last disclosed about 219 million across Disney+ and Hulu. Both companies have stopped publishing quarterly headcount. This paper's Wednesday scoreboard said the war they advertise is no longer the metric they manage. Thursday that still holds. [1]
TheWrap's August stack of Q2 filings is the better ledger. Netflix profit rose 9 percent to $3.4 billion. Combined Disney+ and Hulu revenue grew 11 percent to $5.5 billion. Disney still warned that domestic entertainment ads would soften in the fourth quarter. [1]
Josh D'Amaro's shop is wiring Disney+ as the front door to parks, ESPN, and commerce. Netflix narrowed full-year revenue to $51 billion to $51.4 billion and still aims to double ad revenue to $3 billion. [1][2] Peacock posted its first quarterly profit, $189 million. Ampere expects the global subscription market to pass $165 billion in 2026 with growth slowing toward 2 percent by 2030. [1][3] Headcount was the wartime metric. Yield per household is the peace metric. Peace is more expensive.
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are trying to merge their way into second place, a deal delayed into a 2027 attorney-general trial. The land grab is over. What remains is price, ads, and who owns the remote. Thursday is still a yield war.
-- CAMILLE BEAUMONT, Los Angeles