Star India’s Sports Losses Surge 45% Despite Small Revenue Growth

According to The Walt Disney Co. earnings report, sports-related operating losses of Star India jumped 45% to $314 million in the quarter ended June from $216 million a year ago. Sports revenue was up 1% at $279 million from $277 million.

“The increase in the operating loss at Star India was due to higher programming and production costs attributable to the timing of the ICC T20 World Cup, a decrease in affiliate revenue due to lower effective rates and growth in advertising revenue reflecting the timing of the ICC T20 World Cup,” the company said.

It witnessed a marginal fall in its subscribers for the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar—from 36 million in the last quarter, it came down to 35.5 million paid subscribers. Its ARPU for paid subscribers, though, went up from $0.70 to $1.05 riding on the back of an increase in ad revenues.