Disney’s quarterly earnings tonight made clear that the company’s flagship streaming service Disney+ is getting most of its growth out of cut-priced Asian markets such as India. That’s a long term problem for the entertainment giant, which has to figure out a way to get Disney+ growing more strongly in richer, more lucrative markets, most obviously the U.S. But there was some good news for Disney on the streaming front—Hulu.
If these results don’t get Hulu more respect, nothing will. Not only does Hulu appear to have more subscribers in the U.S. than Disney+ (based on our reporting about Disney+ and Disney’s Hulu disclosures), but Hulu’s subscribers are paying more than twice as much money for the service. Even better, Disney revealed Hulu was profitable in the most recent quarter, which for the streaming market is a major achievement. The profit helped Disney’s streaming division halve its operating loss in the quarter, even as it ramps up investment in Disney+.