“This was an excellent quarter for us,” Josh D’Amaro, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., beamed as the parent of ABC Owned Stations and the ABC Television Network began his company’s fiscal third quarter earnings call.
In the role for five months, D’Amaro couldn’t be more pleased — even as the FCC under Brendan Carr has Disney’s broadcast TV stations in its crosshairs.
Total Entertainment segment revenue in fiscal Q3 increased to $11.35 billion, from $10.7 billion, as subscription and affiliation fees surged by 12% to $7.55 billion, from $6.77 billion.
That said, Advertising slipped to $1.63 billion, from $1.64 billion. Furthermore, Content Sales were down to $1.6 billion, from $1.7 billion.
Speaking on the earnings call, D’Amaro used the first five minutes of his prepared remarks to tout the five Toy Story films, with cross-platform branding experience “that creates a structure no one else can replicate.” Investments in thin box office films, such as The Mandalorian and Grogu and the live-action Moana, will also pay off in increased theme park attendance and Disney + streaming opportunities, D’Amaro.
D’Amaro also talked strongly of the latest Spider Man film, which enjoyed an extremely strong global opening last weekend.
Put it all together, and Entertainment segment operating income improved to $1.68 billion, from $1.022 billion.
ABC wasn’t mentioned once within the first 10 minutes of the call.
But, supplemental SVOD financial details were offered, as Disney+ is core to the company’s long-term strategy.
For the video-on-demand platforms Disney operates, subscription fee revenue grew by 15% to $4.72 billion, from $4.12 billion. Add in 3% advertising revenue growth, to $851 million, and total segment revenue improved to $5.53 billion, from $4.97 billion. Segment operating income surged to $712 million, from $329 million.
The Sports segment, which includes ESPN, saw revenue grow to $4.5 billion, from $4.31 billion. However, a 10% rise in expenses to $3.3 billion resulted in a segment operating income decline of 17%, to $858 million.
After 12 minutes, D’Amaro yield to Chief Financial Officer Benjamin Swinburne, who addressed pre-submitted analyst questions that touched on a wide variety of subjects, including Disney Cruise Lines performance (as asked by Robert Fishman of MoffettNathanson). Experiences segment operating income came in at $3.02 billion, up from $2.52 billion in fiscal Q3 of 2025.
With no mention of ABC in any way in its 8-K filing and financial analysts asking about theme parks as the call concluded early Wednesday, all eyes are now on what’s ahead for Disney as it wraps up its fiscal 2026:
