Coming in at 152.1 million last quarter, Disney+ subscribers totaled 164.2 million by Oct. 1, the end of the conglomerate’s fourth quarter and full-year fiscal 2022 results, which were reported Tuesday. The streamer’s pickup of 12.1 million accounts, 2 million of those in U.S. and Canada, smashed analysts’ forecasts of an 8.9 million subscriber gain.

Streaming services reeling under high content costs and revenue leaks from password sharing are planning to improve their income by launching ad-supported models, restricting the use of multiple device log-ins and introducing cheaper plans to expand their subscriber base.

The video giant's TikTok competitor will be available to watch across smart TVs, gaming consoles and streaming devices.

Disney+ was the biggest component of the growth in the Japanese streaming market in the July to September quarter. It overtook Hulu Japan to become the third largest streamer in the country, according to a new report.

A man from Denmark has been convicted for playing a key role at Asgaard, a private torrent site that shut down in 2020 following intense legal pressure. In addition to co-founding Asgaard, the 47-year-old was associated with NordicBits, DanishBits and ShareUniversity. His criminal conviction marks the fifth in this investigation, with the fate of two other men yet to be decided.

"OTT communication services including information services should be kept out of the purview in the upcoming telecom law as provided in the Section 3 of the Act," IAFI president Bharat Bhatia told ETTelecom.

The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) cautioned that the draft Bill, in its current shape, would increase the regulatory burden on communication apps and might lead to service providers like Telegram and Signal exiting India.

"We have no aim to curtail innovation, but they come up with a bogus argument as with user identification, innovation will only be strengthened and intellectual property rights (IPR) may be safeguarded," Kochhar said.

The festival season this year, topped by the Diwali weekend, could not light up the box office for Hindi cinema which saw business down nearly 50% when compared with pre-covid years. Two big films Ram Setu and Thank God garnered weak collections, together making a little over ₹90 crore at last count. Before covid, it was common for two big films to clock at least ₹200 crore on a festival weekend.