After taking a handful of shows and moves off of Disney+ and Hulu last week, Disney has stated the company will incur a $1.5 billion impairment charge for this quarter.
Will more shows be removed from Disney+?
The news comes in an SEC filing from the company on Friday (via Variety.) Disney notes that after removing “certain produced content” from its streaming services on May 26, 2023, they will record a $1.5 billion impairment charge in its fiscal third quarter financial statements.
These charges will be made “to adjust the carrying value of these content assets to fair value.” Disney also said that it will continue to review content on streaming platforms, and anticipates removing even more produced content from direct-to-consumer streaming services.
As a result of this, Disney anticipates incurring further charges, upward of $400 million. Last month, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said the company would take the charges. By writing down the value, McCarthy claims, it would be able to remove the $1.5 billion from its balance sheet and reduce its tax bill in the future.
The move comes following a fairly substantial purge on streaming services like Disney+ and Hulu, with the company removing more than 50 titles from both in total. Series like Willow, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Dollface, and more were all removed, a move that Disney CEO Bob Iger says has the company on “the right path for streaming’s long-term profitability.”
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