Walt Disney Co. revealed on Wednesday that its cable channels are losing millions of subscribers, with ESPN, the company's most profitable cable channel, showing a loss of 7 million subscribers since 2013. Among this number, 3 million of the losses came from the fiscal year that ended on Oct. 3 alone, according to Market Watch.
In the previous fiscal year, the sports channel had about 95 million subscribers, and in 2013, the company registered a high number of 99 million subscribers. With the number of subscribers down to 92 million, ESPN's performance seems to have taken a step back to 2006, when the channel had 92 million subscribers as well.
Other channels in the Disney group have also registered some significant losses, with ABC Family losing 5 million, the Disney Channel losing 4 million, Lifetime and A&E losing 6 million subscribers each, and The History Channel losing 5 million subscribers, reports CNN Money.
A select few channels in the group's lineup have seen numbers rise, however, with Disney Jr. registering better performance locally. Disney XD has done fairly well too, with an increase in the number of subscriptions both locally and internationally.
Despite the loss of subscribers, the House of Mouse actually remains one of the better performing stocks this year, exhibiting an increase of 26 percent in value this year so far. The full effect of the announcement might not be felt right now, however, as the U.S. stock market remains closed for Thanksgiving, giving investors ample time to react to the media giant's relatively dismal announcement.
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