BRISTOL, U.K.—The popularity of U.S. content from three major streaming services with foreign viewers has declined over the past five years, while those same viewers have increased their time spent watching non-U.S. produced content, according to new research from global streaming media measurement company Digital i.

The research reveals the share of viewing time devoted to U.S. content in other countries has decreased 7% on Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video over the past five years.

Between Q1 2020 and Q2 2025, the percentage of combined viewing time spent watching U.S.-made content on these three streaming platforms, as viewed in 19 non-U.S. countries, dropped from 52% to 45%, Digital i said.

Digital i measured the share of viewing time devoted to U.S. and non-U.S. content by streaming audiences in Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Australia, South Korea and Japan.

Overall share of viewing time devoted to content produced outside of the U.S. in these countries rose in correlation from 37% in Q1 2020 to an equal 45% in Q2 2025 as audiences have begun to spend more of their viewing time watching non-U.S. programming on these streaming services.

The remainder of viewing time was devoted to co-productions between the U.S. and other countries, with this figure remaining relatively consistent over the period.

Within the United States, the share of viewing time spent watching locally produced content has remained comparatively steady in recent years.

In Q2 2025, U.S. viewers spent 62% of their viewing time watching U.S.-made content and 25% watching non-U.S. content on these services. The remaining 13% was spent viewing co-productions between the U.S. and other countries.

More information is available on the Digital i website.

NEW YORK—In another example of how pay TV operators are looking to strengthen their bundled offerings by adding streaming services, Altice USA’s Optimum has launched a new bundled streaming offer for customers. As part of the offer, eligible video and internet customers will be provided with a promotional offer of six complimentary months of the Disney+, Hulu Bundle Basic as a new add-on.

The new bundled streaming offer is scheduled to be available this week to eligible Optimum Extra TV, Everything TV, and Optimum Internet customers, giving them the ability to seamlessly subscribe to their favorite streaming content from the Disney+ and Hulu services directly through Optimum

Optimum noted that this offer is the first of many that the company plans to bring to customers, providing them with the ability to subscribe to more streaming and consumer subscription services directly as part of their Optimum bill.

“We know that our customers want more optionality when it comes to their connectivity and entertainment services, which is why we are excited to collaborate with Disney to deliver a new bundled offer that helps streamline consumers’ Optimum services and their streaming subscriptions,” said Mike Parker, president of Consumer Services at Optimum. “As we continue to enhance and evolve our bundle offerings and add-on experience suite, we are enabling customers to build their own curated content selection through Optimum – giving them more choice, flexibility and value to watch the content they want, how they want it.”

DALLAS—Amazon’s Prime Video remains atop Parks Associates’ annual list of the 10 most-popular U.S. streaming services for the third straight year. Parks bases the chart positions on estimated numbers of subscribers through September 2024 from the firm’s Streaming Video Tracker.

The two streaming leaders maintained their market position from 2003, with Prime Video in the top position above Netflix. Parks Associates said 88% of all households have a streaming service and 42% now use ad-based services, “creating incredible competition for subscription streaming services.”

This year’s top 10 list shows Disney+ taking the third position and pushing Hulu to No. 4. Peacock cracked the top five for the first time, jumping ahead of Max and Paramount+. YouTube Premium held onto its 10th position.

“Tracking the changes at the top of the market over the past five years reveals the extent of rebranding and consolidation shaping this market,” Parks Associates VP, Research Jennifer Kent said. “Showtime, which was in the top 10 back in 2020 and 2021, no longer exists as a standalone SVOD service and is now a premium add-on tier for Paramount+. We expect to see more premium content used to differentiate subscription tiers or create content bundles, giving consumers choice in how to build their packages.”

The chart positions don’t necessarily jibe with budgets, though, with Peacock parent Comcast NBCUniversal spending an estimated $22 billion, followed by Prime Video at $21.5 billion, Netflix at $19.5 billion and Disney at $18.5 billion, according to Filmtake.

Following in the footsteps of Netflix, Disney has begun its previously announced plans for a password sharing crackdown in the U.S. 

Research from earlier this year found at more than half of Americans were sharing passwords for streaming services. Netflix's password sharing crackdown, however, has been deemed a success in that it increased paid subscribers. 

This week Disney  began informing subscribers that “Disney+ expanded its paid sharing program to give its users ways to enjoy their Disney+ subscription along with a family member or friend, through the management of devices within a household. These features and capabilities are now available in the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region after launching in select markets over the summer.”

Under the new plans, Disney said that people outside of the subscriber’s household, will need to sign up and pay for their own subscription or be added as an Extra Member to your account for an additional monthly fee to continue enjoying Disney+.

Account holders who want to add someone outside of their Household to their Disney+ subscription will be able to do so with the Extra Member add-on. 

In the U.S., an Extra Member profile will cost an additional $6.99 per month for Disney+ Basic subscriptions and $9.99 per month for Disney+ Premium subscriptions. 

However, only one Extra Member slot is available per account and the Extra Member offering is not available for Disney Bundle subscribers or for subscribers billed through partners at this time, Disney said. 

As an alternative to Extra Member, people outside a household can sign up for their own subscription to watch Disney+ and the account holder can transfer an eligible profile to a new subscription or Extra Member to keep that profile’s Disney+ watch history and settings, Disney said. 

Disney also assured subscribers that they could continue to watch content outside the home, but the ability to do so may require additional authentication. 

More information is available here. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Disney+ has announced that subscribers to the streaming service can now experience a new immersive environment from National Geographic with the Disney+ app on Apple Vision Pro. The experience transports users to the breathtaking natural beauty of Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park and is National Geographic’s first-ever immersive project for Apple Vision Pro.

Disney+ is also making four additional 3D films from Marvel Studios available to subscribers today: “Avengers,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Ant-Man”* and “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”

National Geographic worked with Disney Studio Technology to lead the creative development and production of the immersive environment from high-resolution 3D models captured on-site using photogrammetry and gigapixel panoramas. The teams worked in collaboration with Disney Entertainment and ESPN Technology to bring this new experience to Disney+.

The streaming service reported that the new National Geographic environment will take Disney+ subscribers on Apple Vision Pro to the unique rocky terrain of Thingvellir National Park on a snowy winter day, allowing them to explore their surroundings via interactive elements and sounds that make the space come to life. This UNESCO world heritage site, captured by a team of National Geographic photographers, serves as the backdrop for viewers watching Disney+ content beneath a spectacular nighttime aurora.

“Since its inception, National Geographic has been at the forefront of photography and has led the way in using groundbreaking technology to tell stories that inspire a deeper connection to the natural world,” said David Miller, executive vice president National Geographic. “Creating this immersive environment was a natural next step for us to take to build on that legacy and to continue enabling audiences to experience the beauty of our natural world and see places they may never go to otherwise.”

For more information on Disney+ on Apple Vision Pro, visit disneyplus.com/applevisionpro. 

Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced the launch of their long-awaited premium streaming bundle for the United States. For $16.99 per month, subscribers will get ad-supported versions of Disney+, Hulu and Max; ad-free will cost $29.99 per month, a savings of 38%. The services are available for purchase on any of the three streaming platforms’ websites.

Between the three services, viewers will get a wide selection of content from ABC, CNN, DC, Discovery, Disney, Food Network, FX, HBO, HGTV, Hulu, Marvel, Pixar, Searchlight, Star Wars, Warner Bros., and many more. The two companies have launched a coordinated, cross-platform national marketing campaign focused on each streamer’s collection of fan-favorite TV series, films and characters. The campaign includes a robust blitz across national broadcast, social, digital, and owned-and-operated channels.

Along with popular hree complementary libraries including some of the greatest franchises like Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, Disney’s Frozen, The Avengers, Star Wars, and Toy Story and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Batman, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. In addition, subscribers can also enjoy an upcoming slate of must-watch premieres including Only Murders in the Building Season 4 on Hulu (Aug 27), Agatha All Along on Disney+ (Sept 18) and The Penguin on Max (Sept).

BURBANK, Calif. and NEW YORK—Disney+, IMAX Corporation, and DTS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xperi, have announced that “Queen Rock Montreal” is now streaming on Disney+.

The May 15 debut is notable in that it is the first concert film to be streamed with IMAX Enhanced sound powered by DTS, the companies said. 

The companies also reported that along with the “Queen Rock Montreal” film, Disney+ subscribers got access on May 15 to 18 Marvel films with IMAX Enhanced sound. 

The streaming debut of “Queen Rock Montreal” means that subscribers using IMAX Enhanced certified devices will be able to feel the full dynamic range of every heart-pounding moment of the digitally remastered concert film, which presents Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon in the original concerts. 

The film was restored for IMAX by Mercury Studios. Executive producers include Geoff Kempin and Alice Webb for Mercury Studios and Jim Beach and Matilda Beach for Queen Films.

In addition to the concert film, select Marvel Studios films became available with IMAX Enhanced sound on Disney+ on May 15, including: 

• Ant-Man and the Wasp
• Doctor Strange
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Eternals
• Avengers: Endgame
• Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2)
• Black Panther
• Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• The Marvels
• Black Widow
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
• Captain America: Civil War
• Thor: Ragnarok
• Captain Marvel
• Thor: Love & Thunder

Disney+ is the first major streaming service to elevate the at-home viewing experience with IMAX Enhanced, giving its subscribers new ways to re-experience the Marvel Cinematic Universe and beyond, IMAX reported. 

BURBANK, Calif.—Starting this summer, U.S. consumers will be able to purchase a new streaming bundle offered by Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery that includes Disney+, Hulu and Max. Although the subscription fee has not been disclosed, the new bundle will be available for purchase on any of the three streaming platform’s websites and offered as both an ad-supported and ad-free plan.

The announcement comes amid Disney’s and WBD’s plans to launch a new sports streaming bundle (code-named “Spulu”) sometime this year. Disney has been offering packages that offer Hulu and ESPN Plus on Disney+ for several years in both ad-supported and commercial free tiers. 

The announcement represents the most significant partnership yet among media giants hoping to prime their streaming brands and better compete with Netflix and Amazon, (which coincidentally offers Max subscriptions through its Prime streaming service). 

“On the heels of the very successful launch of Hulu on Disney+, this new bundle with Max will offer subscribers even more choice and value,” said Joe Earley, President, Direct to Consumer, Disney Entertainment. “This incredible new partnership puts subscribers first, giving them access to blockbuster films, originals, and three massive libraries featuring the very best brands and entertainment in streaming today.”

“This new offering delivers for consumers the greatest collection of entertainment for the best value in streaming, and will help drive incremental subscribers and much stronger retention,” said JB Perrette, CEO and President, Global Streaming and Games, Warner Bros. Discovery. “Offering this unprecedented entertainment value for fans across all the complimentary genres these three services offer, presents a powerful new roadmap for the future of the industry.”

Additional details regarding the bundle offer will be shared in the coming months, Disney said. 

BURBANK, Calif.—The Walt Disney Company has finally delivered some from profits from its hefty streaming investments, with the second quarter of its fiscal year ending March 30, 2024 producing $47 million in operating income in its direct-to-consumer segment as Disney+ core subscribers increased by more than 6 million in the second quarter. 

While the company expects to report a small loss in its Q3 fiscal year in the DTC segment, it reported that “we continue to expect our combined streaming businesses to be profitable in the fourth quarter, and to be a meaningful future growth driver for the company, with further improvements in profitability in fiscal 2025.” 

Disney stock was however down by 9.7% at 11:06 a.m. ET as revenue declined in its more traditional TV and network businesses. 

Overall Disney+ core subscribers (excluding its Indian Hotstar operations) grew by 6% from a year earlier to 117.6 million as U.S./Canada Disney+ subs hit 54.0 million, up 17% from a year earlier. 

Hulu subs increased by 2% from a year earlier to 45.8 million while its vMVPD offering Hulu+Live TV lost 2% of its subs and ended the quarter at 4.5 million. 

Total revenue for the whole company in the quarter increased to $22.1 billion from $21.8 billion in the prior-year quarter, lower than analysts expectations while earnings per share at $1.21 beat them. 

“Our strong performance in Q2, with adjusted EPS up 30% compared to the prior year, demonstrates we are delivering on our strategic priorities and building for the future,” said Robert A. Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company. “Our results were driven in large part by our Experiences segment as well as our streaming business. Importantly, entertainment streaming was profitable for the quarter, and we remain on track to achieve profitability in our combined streaming businesses in Q4.

BURBANK, Calif.—The Walt Disney Company has officially launched Hulu on Disney+ in the U.S. in a move that brings together the extensive Disney+ and Hulu libraries in one place for Disney Bundle subscribers. 

The offering highlights an industry-wide trend towards bundling content that will make it easier for subscribers to find content and improve the value of streaming apps for fickle consumers who continue to regularly add and drop services at alarming rates. 

Disney said that the new experience offers is a seamless showcase of the value of the Disney Bundle that allows Bundle subscribers (or those who hold subscriptions to both standalone apps) to stream extensive Hulu content, including favorites like Grey’s Anatomy, Only Murders in the Building, Poor Things and The Bear, directly in the Disney+ app. Bundle plans are available starting at $9.99/month, while Disney+ and Hulu each remain available as standalone offerings.

“The collective power of Disney+ and Hulu – outstanding originals from the most powerful brands and studios in the industry, libraries filled with decades of iconic favorites, and industry-leading advertising and technological capabilities – is transformative,” said Joe Earley, president of Direct-to-Consumer, Disney Entertainment. “Today’s official launch of Hulu on Disney+ gives viewers even more opportunities to easily discover and enjoy thousands of titles all in one place, underscoring the extraordinary value of the Disney Bundle.”

Aaron LaBerge, President & CTO, Disney Entertainment & ESPN added, “This marks the most significant technical, operational, and product evolution for Disney+ since its launch – one that reflects a wider technology transformation that we have been undertaking. That work is going to drive an enhanced, more engaging user experience with Disney+ and lays the foundation for the innovations and enhancements we are planning for the future.”

With the launch, subscribers can see the full Hulu on Disney+ experience which includes Hulu titles integrated in recommendations, sets, and collections on Disney+. That will make it easier, Disney reported, for subscribers to discover thousands of general entertainment titles and explore the impressive breadth and depth of Hulu and Disney+ content via a more personalized experience – without having to move between apps. 

For standalone Disney+ subscribers, Hulu content merchandised across Disney+ will now come with expanded upsell options across additional devices, making it more convenient to upgrade their subscription to the Bundle starting at only $2/month more.

As part of the launch, Disney has also started a “360-degree marketing campaign” including out-of-home placements, custom broadcast and digital spots, cross-branded social media posts, bi-coastal experiential stunts, including on-site activations at the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, and more throughout the coming days and weeks. 

The roll out also features refreshed branding for Disney+, including a refined logo, color palette, and orchestral mnemonic created by Academy Award-winning composer Ludwig Göransson. This evolution blends Hulu’s signature green into the legacy Disney+ blue, creating a premium and elevated feel to welcome Hulu on Disney+ and mark a new chapter in storytelling for the streaming service.

A vision of the future where Disney's charm is amplified through Hulu's streaming expertise isn't just a fanciful dream—it's becoming a reality. The volatile streaming industry is rife with both challenges and potential and Disney's digital-first initiative is key to their success.

The alliance between Disney and Hulu is expected to “result in increased engagement, greater ad revenue, reduce customer-acquisition costs and lower churn.” This forward-thinking strategy, as suggested by Disney's executive chairman, Bob Iger, harnesses the extensive digital subscription business acumen that Hulu brings, thus positioning Disney strongly in the modern media landscape.

Disney's integration of Hulu is not merely an addition to its portfolio, but a strategic move to leapfrog their success with deep digital subscription business experience.

What Hulu Brings To The Disney Table
In today's competitive streaming landscape, sustained customer acquisition and retention are vital, and Hulu has achieved remarkable success in a short period of time. The service has increased its subscriber base from 22.8 million in 2019 to 48.5 million in 2023, outpacing Disney+ in terms of new subscribers. 

(Read: Ampere: A Combined Disney+ Hulu Will Become Content King)

Beyond a vast content library, Hulu captivates users with an intuitive experience, targeted marketing campaigns and personalized recommendations that attract and engage a diverse, and valuable, audience.

The Challenges of Operating a Streaming Service
As Iger knows, running a streaming service comes with a number of challenges that require expertise and careful planning. The cost of acquiring new subscribers (CAC) can be high, especially in a crowded market. Retention is vital as churn rates can significantly impact profitability. This is where Hulu's experience can assist Disney in significantly increasing their subscription rate.

Striking the balance between customer acquisition and retention, while efficiently managing churn, service costs, and media supply chain efficiency, are all vital considerations for running a profitable streaming service. And all this while staying attuned to consumer habits! Considering all this, it is easy to understand why Disney perceived Hulu as a critical addition to stay ahead of the streaming curve.

So what is next for the combined business? Will bundling services through their merged app attract additional audiences? And what opportunities exist for substantial revenue generation for Disney?

Why A Unified Supply Chain is Key
A strategic vision alone is not enough to succeed in a rapidly changing streaming landscape—an efficient and flexible infrastructure is essential too. This is an area that Disney should focus on when bringing Hulu into the fold: removing multiple legacy supply chains and leveraging the cloud for operational efficiency and cost reduction.

A global, unified media supply chain—the backbone that powers their streaming operations - should support all business units, eliminating silos, rationalizing workflows, reducing overhead and enhancing agility. Further, advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence can identify and mitigate localization and library management inefficiencies including duplicated content removal and historical catalog indexation. A unified media supply chain will also empower Disney to collect and analyze key data across both Hulu and Disney+, enabling informed decision-making and business growth.

Finally, an area of potential cost savings for Disney could be looking to work with innovators in the video codec space, which, together with consolidated operations, could bring substantial cost savings.

Streaming Platforms Continue to Redefine Entertainment
There is no doubt that video streaming is top of the list for most people when it comes to entertainment: this is something that Bob Iger is acutely aware of, and has applied to his business vision by prioritizing streaming and theme parks. However, to date, these units have functioned independently, missing out on the potential synergies that could be achieved by seamlessly integrating the physical experience of Disney's theme parks with their digital offerings.

Some of Disney's competitors are ahead of that game, with Netflix encouraging audiences to visit locations featured in their popular series, and looking to open retail outlets that sell show-related merchandise, creating a holistic experience for subscribers.

This is where the mouse house seems to be missing significant monetization opportunities. Imagine a blend of Disney's physical and digital experiences, where a theme park ride seamlessly integrates with a binge-watching challenge.

When I sit with my family to watch a Disney movie on Hulu, they'd love me to buy related merchandise, or even better, book a trip to Disneyland on the spot! An intuitive user experience that makes it easy to purchase further through my streaming service would go a long way to build engagement and customer loyalty.

Disney's Digital-First Initiative Can Win with Hulu in the Driver's Seat
In a world where streaming services dominate the entertainment industry, Disney's acquisition of Hulu promises to strengthen its digital-first initiative—Hulu's proven experience in acquiring and retaining customers will bring much-needed momentum to Disney's streaming business.

However, to fully unlock this potential, a unified media supply chain that enables efficient operations and new monetization opportunities is essential, not only for the Disney + Hulu business but for all mergers and acquisitions in the streaming space.

Will Iger's strategy pay off? Only time will tell, but it's safe to say that with Hulu onboard, Disney is better positioned for success.

LONDON—Now that Disney has bought out Comcast’s share of Hulu, plans to combine Disney+ and Hulu Video on Demand (VoD) service will result in the streaming service offering one-third of the 100 most popular titles in the U.S. based on the latest data from Ampere Analysis. Ampere’s estimates show that a planned combined app that will bring the services together early next year would have the greatest share of the top 100 most popular titles, putting it behind only Amazon based on Ampere Popularity data from September 2023.

Combined, the Disney+/Hulu app will offer 9,000 distinct movies and TV seasons, Ampere’s latest title-level analysis of the content offer suggests—even if the approximately 300 Comcast-owned titles are removed from the service. This would position Disney+ and Hulu’s total content offering behind only Amazon Prime Video’s 10,892 titles and ahead of Netflix’s 8391 (as of Q3 2023).

According to the way it measures viewer engagement, Ampere says Disney+ held 17 of the top 100 performing SVoD titles in the U.S. in Q3 2023, led by its movie library. When combined with Hulu, that figure jumps to 33, giving the joint entity the largest overall share of top titles. In comparison, Netflix has 29 titles and Max 18.

Disney+’s content strategy relies on its strong Children & Family content portfolio and tentpole Sci-Fi & Fantasy releases from major franchises, according to Amperem which adds that these would represent 81% of the top 100 most popular titles on the combined platform. Hulu’s content library would complement Disney+’s as it includes popular titles from genres currently under-served on Disney+, particularly Crime & Thriller, Romance, and Horror, the researcher said.

Disney+ already includes some of the Hulu library in non-U.S. markets under the Star label, so that a combined content mix would align with the strategy internationally, Ampere added.

As of October 2023, Hulu has more subscribers than Disney+ in the U.S. and according to Ampere’s consumer survey, 44% of U.S. Hulu subscribers already have access to Disney+, largely due to bundles offering both platforms and ESPN. This provides an opportunity for Disney+ to convert the remaining majority of Hulu subscribers who don’t currently subscribe, Ampere said.

Ampere’s consumer survey also shows that 43% of U.S. SVoD users agree with feeling “overwhelmed” with the number of services they have access to, so offering one service that includes top titles from recognizable IP like Marvel and “Star Wars,” and Hulu’s vast content library will offer a wider appeal among subscribers, Ampere said.

“With a combined app offering Disney+ and Hulu due to launch in the US in early 2024, its compelling new streaming content offer will surely shake up the status quo,” said Joshua Rustage, Analyst at Ampere Analysis. “The combined Disney+ and Hulu catalogue will provide one of the most well-rounded and popular offerings in a single platform, upping the content stakes at a time when many are pulling back on content investment. Rivals will have to ensure their offerings remain competitive as the battle for viewing time intensifies, especially as the need to pull in advertising dollars is now also central to the streaming mix.”

BURBANK, Calif.—Disney posted only slight direct-to-consumer subscriber gains in the quarter ending July 1, 2023, but saw significant progress on its plans to cut streaming losses as losses in its DTC segment fell from $1.064 billion a year ago to $512 million for the Q3 FY2023 ending July 1, 2023.  

Domestic U.S. and Canada Disney+ subs fell from 46.3 million subs for the quarter ending April 1, 2023 to 46.0 million in its Q3 FY 2023. But global core Disney+ subs increased to 105.7 million, up from 104.9 million in April. 

The global core Disney+ sub counts exclude Disney’s troubled Disney+ Hotstar in India service that saw a massive sub drop to 40.4 million in July 1, 2023 from 52.9 million in April. 

ESPN+ held basically steady, at 25.2 million in Q3, FY2023 from 25.3 million in April.

Hulu SVOD only service increased from 43.7 million in April to 44.0 million in Q3 FY2023 while Hulu’s vMVPD service saw slight decline from 4.4 million in April to 4.3 million on July 1 of Q3 FY2023. 

“Our results this quarter are reflective of what we’ve accomplished through the unprecedented transformation we’re undertaking at Disney to restructure the company, improve efficiencies, and restore creativity to the center of our business,” said Robert A. Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company. “In the eight months since my return, these important changes are creating a more cost- effective, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our operations that has put us on track to exceed our initial goal of $5.5 billion in savings as well as improved our direct-to-consumer operating income by roughly $1 billion in just three quarters. While there is still more to do, I’m incredibly confident in Disney’s long-term trajectory because of the work we’ve done, the team we now have in place, and because of Disney’s core foundation of creative excellence and popular brands and franchises.”

More to come after the completion of Disney’s earning’s call with analysts. 

The launch of ad-supported tiers and price hikes by streaming services have prompted much discussion about the impact of ad-supported streaming services on the most expensive SVOD services, with some analysts fearing that consumers would simply downgrade from the more expensive ad free services. 

New data from Samba TV and HarrisX suggests, however, that some of those fears are overblown. Their new survey indicates that many of the subscribers to ad-supported tiers are in fact new customers and that major SVOD services still have some room to maneuver in terms of price hikes. 

It also found that consumers were willing to tolerate ads in streaming services but dislike the heavy ad loads often found on cable and broadcast linear TV, a result that indicates that FAST channels with lots of ads may struggle. 

“Last year the streaming industry’s focus was subscriber growth, but we can expect the rest of 2023 to focus on the ad-supported tier,” explained Ashwin Navin, co-founder and CEO of Samba TV. “Our data tells us that ad-supported options represent a path toward more subscriber growth and the overwhelming majority are net-new, rather than downgrading from existing Netflix plans. With more audiences flocking to ad-supported options and billions of impressions available every day, advertising dollars are primed to flow into new offerings that can prove incrementality with an equally devastating spiral for linear services that are saturating audiences with redundant, high-frequency ad exposure.”

These trends are important for the industry, which is hoping to turn streaming losses into profits by adding a new revenue stream from advertising and by increasing prices for subscription services. 

According to a new data analysis from Samba TV and HarrisX, the majority of ad-supported subscribers are first-time customers, rather than downgrading from existing plans. The survey conducted by Samba TV and HarrisX found that 11% of Netflix subscribers and 19% of Disney+ subscribers have ad-supported plans. The majority of these subscribers signed up after the ad-supported tier was introduced, indicating strong interest in ad-supported options.

Of the 11% of Netflix subscribers who have the Netflix basic with ads plan, only 15% downgraded from a previous Netflix subscription, the researchers report. The remaining 85% signed up after the ad-supported tier was introduced.

Of the 19% of Disney+ subscribers who have the Disney+ basic with ads plan, only 15% downgraded from a previous Disney+ subscription. The remaining 85% signed up after the ad-supported tier was introduced, the survey found. 

The survey also found that consumers are in general terms willing to tolerate ads, with 60% of streamers saying they would consider subscribing to a discounted streaming service if it meant watching advertisements.

But consumers remain wary heavy ad loads often found on cable and broadcast channels. About 42% of streamers would prefer ads to take place towards the beginning of a show/movie; 19% would prefer the middle of the program; only 16% would choose to have ads towards the end of what they are watching; only 23% would select a mix of all three.

Half would be fine with seeing 2 or 3 ads while watching an episode or movie; 19% said no ads while 26% said they would be ok with 1; only 6% are ok with 4 or more ads. 

For those with a subscription that shows advertising, 22% rate the ads as highly disruptive and 18% as minimally disruptive. 60% said they were about the same as any other programming where ads are included. Males (25%), Gen Z (28%), and Millennials (33%) were most likely to view ads as highly disruptive.

Consumers also complained about the ad experience. About half (48%) of those with ad-supported streaming see repetitive ads, while 46% see a variety. Females and older respondents are more likely to say they see repetitive ads.

The survey also found that consumers may tolerate additional price-hikes from ad-free services. 

About half (52%) of Disney+ subscribers would keep their subscription as is if the price went up; 16% would cancel; 18% would switch to a cheaper tier with ads; and 14% are unsure.

A hefty 55% of Netflix subscribers said they would keep their subscription as is if the price went up; 12% would cancel; 19% would switch to a cheaper tier with ads; and 14% are unsure.

This survey was conducted online within the United States from March 23-27, 2023 among 2,506 adults in the United States by HarrisX. The sampling margin of error of this poll is plus or minus 2.0 percentage points. The results reflect a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Results were weighted for age by gender, region, race/ethnicity, income, mobile carrier, streaming subscriptions, and party ID where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

BURBANK, Calif.—Disney reported declines in its flagship Disney+ streaming service in Q2 of its 2023 fiscal year ending April 1, 2023 while reducing the losses from its streaming services. 

Revenue slightly beat Wall Street expectations but earnings per share slightly missed. The  stock down by 8.2% by 11:25 a.m. ET on May 11.   

The quarter marked the second straight quarter of sub losses at Disney+.  

Disney+ subs fell by 4 million in the quarter ending April 1, 2023 to 157.8 million worldwide, while domestic U.S. & Canada Disney+ subs declined to 46.3 million from 46.6 million at the end of 2022.  

Meanwhile Hulu subscribers grew to 48.2 million in the quarter ending April 1, 2023, up from 48 million at the end of 2022. Hulu Live TV +SVOD fell from 4.5 million at the end of 2022 to 4.4 million in April 1, 2023.  

ESPN+ subs grew to 25.3 million by April 1, 2023 from 24.9 million at the end of 2022. 

The company did make good on its promise to reduce losses from its direct-to-consumer streaming efforts. 

Direct-to-consumer revenue grew by 12% from a year earlier to $5.514 billion while operating losses fell to $659 million in the quarter ending April 1, 2023, a 26% decline from the $887 million operating loss reported a year earlier. 

“We’re pleased with our accomplishments this quarter, including the improved financial performance of our streaming business, which reflect the strategic changes we’ve been making throughout the company to realign Disney for sustained growth and success,” said Robert A. Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company. “From movies to television, to sports, news, and our theme parks, we continue to deliver for consumers, while establishing a more efficient, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our operations.”

LOS ANGELES—In an interview with CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger noted that he was open to selling the streaming service Hulu, saying that “[e]verything is on the table right now, so I am not going to speculate whether we are a buyer or a seller of it. But I obviously have suggested that I’m concerned about undifferentiated general entertainment, particularly in the competitive landscape that we are operating in, and we are going to look at it very objectively and expansively.”

Disney has to either buy out Comcast’s one third stake or sell its stake to Comcast by 2024. 

It is currently facing pressure from Wall Street to make its streaming business profitable. In its quarterly earnings call this week, Iger announced plans to cut costs by $5.5 billion dollars and ax 7,000 jobs as part of a larger restructuring. 

"We are targeting $5.5 billion of cost savings across the company," Iger said. "First, reductions to our non-content costs will total roughly $2.5 billion not adjusted for inflation. $1 billion in savings is already underway....But in general, the savings will come from reductions in SG&A and other operating costs across the company. To help achieve this, we will be reducing our workforce by approximately 7,000 jobs. While this is necessary to address the challenges we are facing today, I do not make this decision lightly. I have enormous respect and appreciation for the talent and dedication of our employees worldwide and I am mindful of the personal impact of these changes. On the content side, we expect to deliver approximately $3 billion in savings over the next few years, excluding sports."

Most analysts had expected Disney to buyout Comcast but the pressure to cut costs and reduce debt may give Comcast an opening. 

Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in Sept. that it would like to buy Hulu, calling it a "phenomenal" business. 

In its earnings report for Q1 of its 2023 fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2022, Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer revenues increased 13% to $5.3 billion and operating loss increased $0.5 billion to $1.1 billion. The increase in operating loss was due to a higher loss at Disney+ and a decrease in results at Hulu, partially offset by improved results at ESPN+, Disney said. 

Disney+ subs in the U.S. and Canada were virtually flat, rising from 46.4 million in October 1, 2022 to 46.6 million at the end of Dec. 31, 2022 while total Disney+ subs globally declined from 164.2 million to 161.8 million.

Hulu’s subs grew slightly from 47.2 million to 48 million, including its virtual pay TV service Hulu+ Live TV, which had 4.5 million subs.

ESPN+ also saw slow growth from 24.3 million to 24.9 million

LOS ANGELES—Disney is marshaling its broadcast and cable network assets to promote the upcoming March 1 launch of season three of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian" on Disney+ streaming by simulcasting episode one, season one of the series on ABC, Freeform and FX.

The series first episode will air on Friday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. EST/PST on the broadcast and cable networks. Season three will be available to stream beginning Wednesday, March 1 on Disney+.

"The Mandalorian" is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order and follows the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic.

The show offers a pioneering example of the use in virtual production and has been one of the Disney+’s most popular series.  

A new report from U.K. media research firm Rethink TV estimates that global SVoD services will top 1.9 billion subscribers by 2028, in a market worth $171.9 billion.

In its “Subscription Video on Demand Market Forecast 2023-2028,” the researcher examines the impact that the emergence of advertising tiers from the likes of Netflix and Disney+, as well as the increasing popularity of FAST channels will have on the traditional subscription video on demand market. 

“Just prior to releasing last year’s SVoD forecast, Netflix confirmed its first subscriber loss—of 200,000 subs, or around 0.09% of its total,” the researcher said. “This prompted a wave of hysteria, and in the year since, Netflix’s return to growth and confirmation of its advertising strategy has largely set the market at ease.”

Netflix’s ad-supported tier, which launched in November 2022 for $6.99 per month, is part of a boutique of four levels of subscriptions, with premium currently priced at $19.99 per month. Although it didn’t offer specific numbers for the new tier,  the company saw the number of subscribers worldwide increase by 7.66 million in its latest quarter. Disney+ launched its own ad-supported subscription tier for $7.99 per month in the U.S. in December. 

But there’s another threat on the horizon—the increasing popularity of FAST (free-ad-supported TV) services that mimic traditional pay-TV channel EPGs, but without the subscription fees. These services are most often accessed through smart TVs from Samsung, Vizio, Roku, etc. 

This new normal could upend the SVoD market, Rethink says.

“Complicating counting is the fact that we are about to enter a phase where SVoD services have ad-supported customers, AVoD services have subscription tiers, and FAST will undoubtedly start playing with on-demand video. The clock is also ticking until these VoD services have live linear feeds, and Netflix is due shortly to launch its first live stream,” it said. “Disney and Netflix are now in the early stages of their advertising expansion. Both have chosen to price their ad-supported bundles at a slight discount, to ensure that they can maintain their ARPU via the ads served. In time, we suspect that the SVoD platforms could see significant lifts in ARPU via advertising.”

With Netflix, in particular, moving to eliminate password sharing, Rethink suggests that the service offer a free ad-supported tier to which it could move those sharers to. 

“Neither Netflix or Disney have opted for an entirely free tier, supported by a much heavier advertising load,” Rethink said. “This is significant, because the issue of account sharing has raised its head in the past year. With free options, SVoD services would be able to migrate a user from an existing SVoD subscription and into a free account with only an email address and basic account details. This would serve to keep the number of subscribers high, and potentially provide a significant boost, if the estimates of ‘freeloader’ accounts are as high as some in the industry maintain. However, as soon as a payment method is required, the success of converting a freeloader into an active subscriber plummets.

“Netflix has not broken out detail of its conversion rates, but there are nascent third-party estimates of the proportion of new additions that have chosen the ad-based tier,” the researcher added. “The coming quarters will likely provide some insight, via investor call disclosures, but the SVoD platforms will be tightlipped in the meantime.

Rethink says that Netflix will continue to boast about its profitability, especially when compared to competitors which are still operating at a loss, including Comcast, which just reported full year revenues that showed $2.1 billion earnings for Peacock, but was hamstrung by an attributed loss of some $2.5 billion. 

“To this end, ARPUs across the board need to rise, and advertising is going to play a major role in this regard,” it said.

LONDON—As SVoD services in the US mature, pricing and bundling are key to retention, according to a recent report by Ampere Analysis. Newer platforms (including Disney+) tend to have higher levels of both sign-up and churn as they rely more heavily on individual title launches, while established SVoD platforms’ sign-up and churn rates are much more affected by pricing changes, Ampere said.

Ampere’s latest analysis shows that bundling is key to help mitigate price sensitivity, with Hulu and Disney+ having both benefitted in terms of sign-up and churn from the strength of the Disney Bundle.

With U.S. SVoD homes now having access to an average of 4.5 streaming services, newer SVoD players are continuing to see strong gross additions to their subscriber base. But the increasingly saturated SVoD market presents growing challenges for established services to maintain success, according to Ampere. As U.S. consumers edge closer to the stacking “ceiling,” attracting new subscribers and mitigating churn is more important than ever.

Because of this, retention is becoming a key battleground—for all SVoD platforms, leavers are primarily in younger, lower-income demographics, who are more sensitive to pricing and content offering. Discounted ad-supported tiers will mitigate churn here.

Another option to address price sensitivity is bundling. Hulu’s US sign-up and cancellation rates now mimic those of Disney+, as its users increasingly purchase their subscription through the bundle. Almost one third (32%) of Hulu subscribers have bundled with Disney+.

Pricing is key for established players, while new services rely on regular content releases, Ampere said. Disney+ uses franchise title releases and its first live broadcast to drive sign-ups. 

The first large peak in daily sign-ups seen on Sept. 8, 2022 corresponds with Disney+ Day, an annual event that marks the release of exclusive premieres and the announcement of upcoming content. This year’s Disney+ Day saw the release of big franchise titles including Thor: Love and Thunder, Pinocchio, and Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi’s Return. The next large peaks fall on Sept. 19, 2022, with the premiere of season 31 of Dancing with the Stars, and on Sept. 30, 2022, with the release of Hocus Pocus 2.

“The increasingly competitive SVoD market makes it hard for established services to maintain growth, while newer players continue to see strong gross additions but struggle to retain those customers,” said Mayssa Jamil, analyst at Ampere Analysis. “Pricing and content offering being the main drivers for sign-up and churn, a great way to aid customer retention is through bundling: it combines both of the above by offering larger catalogues and more frequent content additions at cheaper prices. We see this at play when looking at the way Hulu and Disney+ sign up and churn rates increasingly mimic one another thanks to the strength of the Disney Bundle.”

Streaming services that provide ad-supported video on demand services along with traditional subscription-based services will dominate the streaming landscape over the next five years according to a new report from Digital TV Research.

The researcher predicts that global SVOD subscriptions will increase by 428 million between 2022 and 2028 to  reach 1.76 billion, “showing that there is still plenty of growth left,” it said.

With Netflix’s introduction of its lower-tier cost ad-supported streaming service launched last month, two of the most dominant streaming services—Netflix and Disney+—both now offer hybrid AVOD-SVOD services and are expected to continue that dominance through 2028, Digital TV Research said, adding that viewers that subscribe to such hybrid AVOD-SVOD subscriptions will comprise the majority of their subscription bases in five years.  

“We estimate that  Netflix will provide its hybrid AVOD-SVOD tier in 85 countries by 2028, with Disney+  in 91 countries, HBO in 55 and Paramount+ in 56,” said Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research. “These include pan-regional  services in Spanish-speaking Latin America and also in the Arabic-speaking  countries.” 

These four platforms collectively will have 372 million hybrid AVOD-SVOD  subscribers by 2028—or 56% of their total subscriber base.  

Given that Disney+ subscribers in most markets are expected to convert  automatically to the hybrid AVOD-SVOD tier, the platform will have 206 million subs  to this tier by 2028—or 88% of its total. At the other end of the scale, 24% of Netflix’s  total subscribers will pay for the hybrid AVOD-SVOD tier by 2028—or 63 million.  

Murray continued: “Netflix has a large base of SVOD-only subscribers. Most of  these subscribers will remain on these plans, despite the AVOD-SVOD tier being  considerably cheaper. The hybrid tier will appeal most to developing countries  where disposable incomes are lower. The hybrid tier will also be attractive to new  subscribers that do not have legacy SVOD-only subscriptions.” 

LOS ANGELES—A combined offering of Disney+ and Hulu would account for the largest share of the 100 most popular titles of any U.S. subscription video on demand service, accounting for approximately 30%, a comprehensive lead over second place Netflix’s 23% according to a recent study by Ampere Analysis. 

Hulu is currently owned by Disney (67%) and Comcast (33%), who are due to reach a sale agreement in January 2024. However, recent reports suggest that Disney intends to close a deal earlier to take a 100% stake and integrate the streamer into Disney+ as a combined offering, giving subscribers access to popular titles from Disney’s Marvel Studios or Lucasfilm and Hulu originals like Only Murders in the Building and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Currently, subscribers to Hulu Plus Live TV already get a free subscription to premium or ad-supported versions of Disney+ at either $70 or $76 per month

Amper says a merger “seems logical,” as Disney’s share of Hulu content has grown significantly, suggesting that the company has continued to invest considerably in the platform. Since September 2016, the proportion of Hulu’s catalogue to which Disney owns the distribution rights has tripled, from 6% of all movies and TV shows to 19% by September 2022.

Meanwhile, the major studios without streaming platforms have reduced their contribution to Hulu’s content slate (down from 81% in 2016 to 71% in 2022), and those with their own streaming services have generally maintained or reduced their input. Specifically, the combined content from NBCUniversal, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros. Discovery now makes up less than 10% of all TV shows and movies on Hulu.

Ampere says the removal of content from Hulu to support newer services like Peacock, Paramount+ and HBO Max poses a threat to Hulu’s competitiveness. The streamer has already lost highly popular titles like America’s Got Talent (to Peacock), movies and TV shows set within the Star Trek universe (to Paramount+) or Family Matters (to HBO Max).

If major studios reclaim their proprietary content, Hulu could lose 10% of its overall catalogue. This figure rises to 37% of Hulu’s 100 most popular titles, using Ampere’s Popularity Score metric, which tracks overall online engagement with a title, the research firm said.

“The threat of further popular or critically acclaimed titles leaving Hulu for rival platforms is a concern as engaging content is critical for subscriber retention, especially as the US SVoD market nears saturation,” says Christen Tamisin, Analyst at Ampere Analysis. “This risk makes the argument for Disney to merge Hulu and Disney+ into a single platform stronger.”

“On the other hand, Disney+ and Hulu’s complementary catalogues mean a combined platform would have a more diverse content offering—akin to other major market players—than the two standalone platforms have currently. While the Disney brand has long been associated with family-friendly content, Hulu has a broader, general-audience appeal, offering a wide range of genres and more adult-targeted titles.”

The report was issued a day after Disney announced the return of former CEO Bob Iger, replacing Bob Chapek, who is stepping down. 

As new ad-supported streaming tiers from Netflix and Disney+ roll out, a new report from Digital TV Research predicts that global revenues from ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) for TV series and movies will reach $91 billion in 2028, up  from $38 billion in 2022. The top 10 countries will represent 81% of the world’s total  by 2028. 

By 2028, 15 platforms will generate AVOD revenues in excess of $1 billion,  including six global, five from the U.S. and three from China, the U.K. researcher said.  

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “An exciting development will be the global rollout of hybrid AVOD-SVOD tiers by major platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO and Paramount+. These four platforms will  generate AVOD revenues of $22.6 billion by 2028—or a quarter of the world’s total.” 

BURBANK, Calif.—The Walt Disney Co. announced Sunday that it has appointed Robert Iger as its CEO for the next two years, replacing Bob Chapek, effective immediately. Iger, who spent more than four decades at Disney, including 15 years as its CEO, before being replaced by Chapek in 2020, has agreed to serve for two years, with a mandate from the Board “to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to work closely with the Board in developing a successor to lead the Company at the completion of his term,” the company said. 

Although Disney earlier this month reported that its Disney+ streaming service is now the leader in number of subscribers worldwide with more than 164 million, the service, which launched in 2019 to great fanfare, has yet to turn a profit, losing $1.5 billion in its most recent quarter alone. The company expects its DTC streaming division, which also includes ESPN+ and Hulu, to be profitable by 2024 and is launching an ad-supported version of Disney+ next month, announcing last week that it had already lined up more than 100 advertisers. 

During Iger’s tenure from 2005 to 2020, he led the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox and increased the company’s market capitalization fivefold during his time as CEO. He stepped down as Executive Chairman of the board a year ago.

Disney’s stock jumped on the announcement and analyst Steve Cahill noted that Iger’s return was a positive development for the company.

“While Chapek's departure is not a surprise due to recent turmoil and the stock's decline, Iger's resurgence is a positive surprise. Iger will be viewed as a catalyst to improve the content aspects of Disney, and we expect bigger potential strategic changes around the long-term shape of DTC," Cahall said. "While the announcement doesn't solve all of Disney's problems, we think investors will embrace it as it puts perhaps the best leader in Media at the helm with a mandate to shake things up." 

MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson responded to Iger’s return, saying “the magic is back.” Nathanson added that he had never fully had confidence that Chapek would be successful after taking over the helm during the early days of the pandemic. 

“With limited experience on the media side of Disney, Mr. Chapek had done an expert job in managing Disney’s parks through the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, but he appeared anchored to the streaming strategy laid out in the December 2020 Investor Day which had created, we felt, unrealistically high subscriber targets without a grasp for the underlying return on investment,” he said after the announcement.

Disney thanked Chapek for his service but noted that Iger will help guide the company through challenging times ahead with the potential of a global recession—which has already impacted DTC streaming subscription levels—prompting Netflix, Disney+’s chief rival, to crack down on password sharing and launch a competing ad-supported tier.

“We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic,” said Susan Arnold, Chairman of the Board. “The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period.”

“Mr. Iger has the deep respect of Disney’s senior leadership team, most of whom he worked closely with until his departure as executive chairman 11 months ago, and he is greatly admired by Disney employees worldwide–all of which will allow for a seamless transition of leadership,” she said.

“I am extremely optimistic for the future of this great company and thrilled to be asked by the Board to return as its CEO,” Mr. Iger said. “Disney and its incomparable brands and franchises hold a special place in the hearts of so many people around the globe—most especially in the hearts of our employees, whose dedication to this company and its mission is an inspiration. I am deeply honored to be asked to again lead this remarkable team, with a clear mission focused on creative excellence to inspire generations through unrivaled, bold storytelling.”

BURBANK, Calif.—Disney+ has announced that it will launch its ad-supported subscription offering in the U.S. at $7.99 and that it will increase standalone sub prices for Disney+ and Hulu services. 

The price hikes come as streamers are struggling with increased programming costs and are under increased pressure from Wall Street to reduce loses. 

As of December 8, Disney+ without ads will increase to $10.99, a $3 pop.  

As of October 23, Hulu’s prices will increase to $14.99 a month without ads, up $2 and $7.99 with ads, a $1 increase. Disney previously announced that prices for ESPN+ would increase on August 23. 

“With our new ad-supported Disney+ offering and an expanded lineup of plans across our entire streaming portfolio, we will be providing greater consumer choice at a variety of price points to cater to the diverse needs of our viewers and appeal to an even broader audience,” said Kareem Daniel, chairman, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. “Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ feature unparalleled content and viewing experiences and offer the best value in streaming today, with over 100,000 movie titles, TV episodes, original shows, sports and live events collectively.”

As “Top Gun Maverick” dazzles audiences worldwide this summer, with its advanced camera work displaying dizzying hypersonic flying visuals, a new Disney+ series launching on July 4, adopts many of these techniques to give viewers enhanced angles and viewpoints of America’s natural highlights.

The six-episode series “America the Beautiful,” which was produced by the same people who brought us “Planet Earth” and “Frozen Planet” uses the same aerial  system [mounted] on the front of the jet that was used on “Top Gun Maverick,” making it possibly the first nature series to use cinema-grade cameras on fighter jets for documentary filming.

In addition to scenic panoramic views, the camera-outfitted jet also helps overcome the challenges of shooting weather events. 

"A very important part of doing a wildlife series about North America is capturing the weather itself in a new way,” filmmaker Mark Linfield told MediaVillage in an exclusive interview. “The jet allows you to reach the weather quickly—and to get out quickly when the wild weather turns nasty."

For the complete story, check out MediaVillage’s coverage. 

BURBANK, Calif.—Disney has provided new details on the previously announced launch of a Disney+ tier that includes advertising. 

During Disney’s earnings call for the second quarter of their fiscal year ending April 2, 2022, CEO Bob Chapek confirmed that they will “introduce an ad-supported subscription offering in the U.S. by the end of the calendar year and internationally in 2023,” for Disney+. 

“Expanding Disney+ access through multiple price points is a win for consumers and advertisers,” he said during the earnings call with investors. 

The company, however, declined to discuss pricing. 

In its Q2 earnings report, Disney reported hitting 205 million direct-to-consumer subs. 

Disney+ ended the quarter with 44.4 million subs in the U.S. and Canada, up 19% from 37.3 million in 2021 and 137.7 million subs worldwide, up 33% from a year earlier.

“We're expecting a very positive reaction from advertisers overall,” he added later in the call. “They have been asking for this for years. And we also expect Hulu, as you know, which has been very strong for us at the same time, to be a key contributor of our performance at the upfront this year.”

“The other thing is that sports are going to continue to be in high demand,” he continued. “And so with the advertisers, we focused on the right deals that we've made over the past few years as well as our robust slate of original content shows and our studio shows and original content games.”

This move could also help them grow the pie of potential streaming revenues, he argued. 

“We believe that the value proposition of advertising with Disney+ is only enhanced with our addition of an ad-supported tier on Disney+,” he said. “So we believe it's good for the consumer because it's going to give us another entry price point, but it's also going to be great for the advertisers. Our advertisers increasingly are looking for multiple platforms to reach a broader reach. And we think that as a company, we're going to provide that given our portfolio of streaming and our linear networks. So I think we're creating more avenues, both for consumer choice and for comprehensive advertising solutions, for our advertising customers at the same time.”

Chapek also noted that they were well on their way in terms of creating the technical infrastructure for launching an ad supported tier. 

“We're in really good shape in terms of being able to meet our timing with our Disney+ ad tier,” Chapek said. “And that's largely because we're already doing it. The combination of our ESPN+, streaming tech stack and our experience in Hulu and the software, we think that our current advertising capabilities really substantially prepare us to already bring this tier into operations. So there's nothing that we need to go acquire or, frankly, even in any significant way developing anything new. And that's due to the ongoing investments in technology that we've made over time to increasingly automate much of this process. And we've been looking forward to this for a while. So this is something that's well-greased, if you will. And our teams are hard at work at making that become a reality.”

BURBANK, Calif.—Disney’s results for the second fiscal quarter ending April 2, 2022 showed there is still a lot of growth in the streaming business, with Disney+ adding 7.9 million subs from a year earlier and the company as a whole hitting 205 million direct-to-consumer subs. 

Disney+ ended the quarter with 44.4 million subs in the U.S. and Canada, up 19% from 37.3 million in 2021 and 137.7 million subs worldwide, up 33% from a year earlier.

ESPN+ also saw significant growth, hitting 22.3 million subs in the quarter, up 62% from the same quarter in 2021.

Hulu’s SVOD service ended the quarter up 10% to 41.4 million while its Hulu Live TV + SVOD service grew 8% to 4.1 million. 

Direct-to-Consumer revenues for the quarter increased 23% to $4.9 billion, but operating losses increased $0.6 billion to $0.9 billion as programming costs continued to rise. 

“Our strong results in the second quarter, including fantastic performance at our domestic parks and continued growth of our streaming services—with 7.9 million Disney+ subscribers added in the quarter and total subscriptions across all our DTC offerings exceeding 205 million—once again proved that we are in a league of our own,” said Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “As we look ahead to Disney’s second century, I am confident we will continue to transform entertainment by combining extraordinary storytelling with innovative technology to create an even larger, more connected, and magical Disney universe for families and fans around the world.”

The bigger losses at Disney+ reflected higher programming and production, marketing and technology costs, partially offset by an increase in subscription revenue, the company said. 

Meanwhile, higher sports programming costs and a decrease in income from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) pay-per-view events, partially offset by an increase in subscription revenue due to subscriber growth produced larger losses at ESPN+.

Hulu also saw higher programming and production, marketing and technology costs, partially offset by subscription revenue growth and higher advertising revenue. 

A new report from Digital TV Research predicts that revenues for ad-supported video-on demand worldwide will reach $70 billion by 2027, more than double the $33 billion revenues logged in 2921. Of the 138 countries covered in the survey, 13 will generate more than $1 billion by 2027, compared to only five countries in 2021. 

The five top countries in order of predicted revenues include: U.S., China, U.K., Japan, and India. 

The report reflects recent trends among the world's largest streaming services that have announced plans to launch ad-supported tiers. Disney+, which has been focusing on developing its own ad technology, announced in March that it was going to introduce ads in an effort to squeeze out more revenues per subscriber and Netflix, in response to sagging subscription numbers, also announced its plans for an ad-supported tier last month. 

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “U.S. AVOD will grow  by $19 billion to $31 billion by 2027—remaining the largest country by far. The US  has the world’s most sophisticated advertising industry by some distance, plus  AVOD choice is greater in the U.S. than anywhere else. The U.S. will account for 46%  of the global total by 2027, up from 39% in 2021.” 

Second-placed China slumped in 2020 due to its economic downturn and it will take  until 2024 for China to better its 2019 total, the report noted. In 2021, the government clamped down  on fan-based culture, which resulted in far fewer reality shows from the OTT  platforms—and less viewer demand. 

LONDON—Disney+ has announced launch dates and pricing for 42 countries and 11 new territories. The launches will start with South Africa launching on May 18 followed by all the other countries in June.

A large group of countries North Africa and the Middle East will launch on June 8, including Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 

On June 14th, another 24 countries, mostly in Europe, will launch, followed by Israel and a number of other territories on June 16.

In addition to movies, TV series and Disney originals, users will also have access to high-quality viewing, up to four concurrent streams, unlimited downloads on up to ten devices, IMAX Enhanced for selected titles (where available), and the ability to set up to seven different profiles, the company said. 

Full list of countries with standard and annual pricing is available here.  

NEW YORK & BURBANK, CA.—Disney said today it will launch an ad-supported version of its Disney+ streaming service, expected to launch later this year in the U.S and internationally in 2023.

News of the launch comes amid Disney’s increasing focus on advertising technology, which it will preview to advertisers at its May upfront.  

“Expanding access to Disney+ to a broader audience at a lower price point is a win for everyone—consumers, advertisers, and our storytellers,” said Kareem Daniel, Chairman, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. “More consumers will be able to access our amazing content. Advertisers will be able to reach a wider audience, and our storytellers will be able to share their incredible work with more fans and families.”

Disney already owns the streaming market’s largest ad-supported OTT service in Hulu and also offers the ESPN+ ad supported service. The ad supported version of Disney+ will have a lower subscription rate, which Disney says will help it achieve its long-term target of 230-260 million Disney+ subscribers by FY24.

Disney+ currently has approximately 130 million subscribers worldwide.

“Since its launch, advertisers have been clamoring for the opportunity to be part of Disney+ and not just because there’s a growing demand for more streaming inventory,” said Rita Ferro, President, Advertising, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. “Disney+ with advertising will offer marketers the most premium environment in streaming with our most beloved brands, Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and National Geographic. I can’t wait to share more with advertisers at the Upfront.”

More details, including launch date and pricing, will be announced at a later date.

LONDON—In the wake of sluggish Disney+ sub growth during the last quarter, new projections from Digital TV Research are estimating that Netflix will continue to hold onto the top spot as the world’s largest streaming service in 2026 with 275 million subs but that Disney+ will catch up and surpass Netflix sometime in 2027.

In late spring, Digital TV research estimated that Disney+ would surpass Netflix in 2025 but slow growth in the quarter ending on September 30, 2021 prompted the researcher to revise those estimates. 

The new report estimates that the five major U.S.-based platforms will control 53% of the world’s 1.7 billion SVOD subscriptions by 2026. That equates to a collective 910 million subscriptions by 2026; up from 585 million in 2021, Digital TV Research estimated. 

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “our previous forecasts based on June 2021 results estimated that Disney+ would overtake Netflix in 2025. Based on the September 2021 results, we now expect that this will happen in 2027.”

Even with the revised estimates, Disney+ will be the biggest winner in the streaming wars, adding 140 million subscribers between 2021 and 2026 to take its total to 271 million. About 102 million of Disney+’ subscribers [38% of the total] in 2026 will be in 13 Asian countries under the Hotstar brand.

Murray continued: “Disney+ only started in six new countries during 2021. Delayed from 2021, the Eastern Europe launches will take place in 2022. This is likely to push back the remaining Asian launches to 2023.”

HBO Max will have 83 million subscribers by 2026, up from 29 million by end-2021. Future launches include territories where it has pay TV operations: Eastern Europe in 2022 and the rest of Asia (probably in 2023).

For more information on the SVOD Platform Forecasts report contact Simon Murray at simon@digitaltvresearch.com.

NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES—The Walt Disney Company and DTS have announced that Disney+ subs will be able to stream some of their favorite Marvel titles in IMAX’s expanded aspect ratio at home with IMAX Enhanced on Disney+ starting on November 12th as part of the Disney+ Day global celebration.

DTS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Xperi Holding Corporation. 

IMAX Enhanced on Disney+ will include 13 Marvel titles in IMAX’s expanded aspect ratio (1:90:1), which offers up to 26% more picture for select sequences – meaning more of the action is visible on screen. 

Disney and DTS, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Xperi Holding Corporation, also noted that in the future, the collaboration will deliver even more enhanced audio and visual technology to Disney+, including immersive IMAX signature sound by DTS

The 13 titles available at launch include the Disney+ premiere of Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” on November 12th as well as other fan-favorite MCU movies like “Iron Man,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Doctor Strange,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Ant-Man and The Wasp,” “Captain Marvel,” “Avengers: Endgame,” and “Black Widow” (content availability varies by region).

“For more than a decade, IMAX has helped filmmakers take fans across the Marvel Cinematic Universe in theaters and now that epic journey crosses into a new world: the home,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “IMAX, Disney, and Marvel Studios are giving the fans what they want: the most immersive viewing experience throughout the life of a Marvel Studios film, from exclusive theatrical release to the library at-home where they can now watch the Avengers assemble with more picture than ever before.”

“Disney, Marvel Studios, and IMAX have collaborated for years to bring the world’s most popular films to the big screen, and on Friday we’ll start to bring IMAX technology to subscribers with IMAX Enhanced viewing in the Disney+ app,” added Michael Paull, president of Disney+ and ESPN+. “We’re thrilled to create new value for Marvel fans and audiences on Disney+, and we’re looking forward to offering even more IMAX Enhanced functionality in the future.”

“We are thrilled that fans of the MCU will soon have the opportunity to experience IMAX’s expanded aspect ratio, in their own homes with the launch of IMAX Enhanced on Disney+,” said Jon Kirchner, chief executive officer of Xperi, which owns DTS. “DTS is proud to be an integral part of IMAX Enhanced and we are looking forward to unlocking more exciting technology for Disney+ subscribers in the future, which will include immersive IMAX signature sound by DTS.”

NEW YORK, N.Y.—With social media ad campaigns playing a crucial role in attracting new subs in the ongoing streaming wars, BrandTotal has released a fascinating new study that analyzed hundreds of social media ad campaigns by the top streaming ad platforms. 

Based on that survey, it found that Disney+ was winning the paid share-of-voice, with nearly one-third (30%) of all impressions. HBO Max was in second with 23%, followed by Hulu at 21%. 

“Disney+ won on paid SOV [share of voice], which speaks to their advantage with spend,” said Alon Leibovich, CEO and co-founder, BrandTotal. “They are prolific when it comes to paid advertising and social media is no exception.”

The top-five were rounded out by Peacock 16% and Paramount+ (7%). Netflix (1%) and Apple TV Plus (2%) were the least prolific social media advertisers, the report noted. 

BrandTotal’s latest report, “Social Intelligence Competitive Snapshot: The Streaming Wars,” analyzed all paid social advertising campaigns from Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV Plus, Peacock, and Paramount+, over a 90-day period, from June 23rd to September 20th, 2021.

The data also showed that YouTube and Twitter are key for the social media ad campaigns of streamers. When averaging the percentage of ad impressions for each channel among the seven streamers, YouTube was the most popular, with 59% of all impressions, followed by Twitter (32%), Facebook (7%), and Instagram (2%).

"Facebook-owned platforms were the least compelling for streamers," said Leibovich. "Instead, YouTube dominated, which makes sense given the video-first nature of the platform. Twitter was also a leader, which speaks to the surging value of video ads there."

YouTube was #1 among all streaming advertisers except for Peacock, which relied more on Twitter (49% of all sponsored impressions vs. 43%). Hulu was the most reliant on YouTube, with 94% of its social ad impressions there. Meanwhile, Paramount+ was the top Facebook advertiser (18%) and Netflix was the top Instagram advertiser (4%).

In terms of demographics, most streamers aimed ads at a younger audience, specifically Gen Zs. 

Hulu, in particular, went after this market, with 68% of its sponsored impressions focused on 18-24-year-olds. Disney+ was the second biggest streamer to target this age range, with 58% of its impressions, BrandTotal reported. 

"Younger audiences have migrated to streaming platforms more quickly than older audiences," said Leibovich. "The targeting is no surprise."

For more information about BrandTotal’s competitive social advertising intelligence, visit www.brandtotal.com. 

BURBANK, Calif. & LENEXA, Ka.—Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution and the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) have announced a new, multi-year distribution agreement that will make Disney’s sports, news, kids, family and general entertainment programming from networks, broadcast stations and SVOD services available to the 700+ small and mid-sized independent cable and broadband operators that belong to NCTC.

In addition to the ESPN networks, the Disney branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks and the National Geographic channels, the deal covers retransmission consent for the ABC Owned Television Stations and will allow NCTC member operators to offer the ACC Network to their customers beginning September 1.

The comprehensive distribution agreement between the parties also will allow operators to market the streaming services Disney+ and ESPN+, joining Hulu which is already available to some operators. NCTC member operators will be able to link their customers directly to the Disney+ and ESPN+ websites where new subscribers can sign up.

“Our new deal with the NCTC will allow member operators to continue serving their customers across the country by delivering Disney’s robust and expansive portfolio of networks, which includes the addition of the ACC Network,” said Sean Breen, executive vice president, platform distribution, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. “We’re incredibly pleased that the agreement will also now give their members’ customers direct access to our collection of streaming services.”

BURBANK, Calif.—For the first season of “Launchpad” on Disney+, Disney opted to provide the young filmmakers behind the project with Panavision cameras and lenses to tell their stories.

“Launchpad” is a collection of six short films from a new generation of storytellers, with an eye toward diversifying the types of stories that are being told. The filmmakers, and their films, for the first season include Aqsa Altaf (“American EID”), Hao Zheng (“Dinner is Served”), Ann Marie Pace (“Growing Fangs”), Stefanie Abel Horowtiz (“Let’s Be Tigers”), Jessica Mendez Siqueiros (“The Last of the Chupacabras”) and Moxie Peng (“The Little Prince(ss)”).

“Panavision and Disney share a commitment to empowering storytellers from a diverse cross section of communities,” said Kim Snyder, Panavision president and CEO.

The six short films are now available to watch on Disney+. Disney will also accept submissions for season two of “Launchpad” starting June 11. 

BURBANK, Calif.—Is Disney+ starting to hit a wall? In one of the first instances since the streaming service launched in November 2019, Disney+ failed to meet market expectations, announcing that it now has 103.6 million global subscribers; Wall Street projected it to be around 110 million at the end of the second fiscal quarter of 2021.

The Walt Disney Company shared the updated subscriber numbers as well as additional financial information from Q2 FY2021, which ended on April 3, in an official release on May 13.

To be fair, Disney+ has exceeded overall expectations at this point. Initial projections from Disney had the streaming service reaching 100 million global subscribers in 2025, but the company announced they reached that mark back in March. Subscribers just about tripled from the 33.5 million that were signed up at the end of Q2 FY2020.

As the world opens back up with the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, that kind of growth is unlikely to be sustainable, and these most recent numbers may have already been impacted by a return to more normal habits.

Disney’s overall direct-to-consumer strategy, which includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu, is proving profitable. Revenues from all DTC products came in at $4 billion, up 59% year-over-year, with an operating loss of $300 million (down $800 million). In terms of subscribers, ESPN+ added just under 6 million, a 75% increase from Q2 FY2020, and Hulu (for both its SVOD and Live TV services) added a little more than 9 million, a 30% increase.

Linear revenues, however, saw a dip year-over-year. Disney reports that its revenue from both its domestic and international channels was $6.7 billion, down 4% from Q2 FY 2020’s $7 billion. Looking specifically at domestic channels, which includes ESPN and ABC, that dipped from $5.6 billion in Q2 FY2020 to $5.4 billion in Q2 FY 2021.

However, these results was better than expected, according to Disney CFO Christine McCarthy.

“While we did see those specific adverse impacts play out, overall broadcasting results were higher than we expected, driven by lower marketing spend due to timing shifts of some new series in addition to a number of other smaller factors,” McCarthy told analysts in the company’s conference call after releasing results Thursday afternoon.

Operating income for domestic channels increased year-over-year to $2.3 billion (a 12% change). For cable channels, increases occurred because of lower programming and production costs and higher affiliate revenue. Contributing to this was the change in schedule for the College Football Playoffs, which had Disney only accounting for one game in Q2 FY2021 rather than four, and increases in contractual rates for affiliates.

For broadcasting, the increase was due to growth at ABC, again because of lower programming and production costs with the shifting of another major event (The Academy Awards) and higher affiliate revenue. There were, however, decreases at owned television stations as a result of lower advertising revenue from a decrease in political advertising and the timing of the Academy Awards.

For more information on Disney+’s Q2 FY2021 financial report, read the full release on Disney’s website. 

LONDON—Netflix has long been the OTT leader in the U.S., but its share of the market is starting to wane as other streaming services, particularly Disney+, make their own gains in the market. ComprarAcciones estimates that 2021 will see a noticeable drop in Netflix’s share of the market, from 36.2% to 30.8%.

In 2020, Netflix’s U.S. OTT subscription revenue rose by more than $1 billion from 2019—$9.24 billion to $10.64 billion. Netflix ended 2020 with 203.7 million paid subscribers, with 36.6 million being added during the year, the company’s highest annual gain.

Netflix’s revenue is not expected to dip either. Projections have the streaming service increasing its revenue to $11.76 billion in 2021 and $12.95 billion in 2022.

Despite this, Netflix is still expected to lose market share in 2021.

The main culprit is likely to be Disney+. The Walt Disney Company streaming service just announced that it has surpassed 100 million global subscribers and its 2020 revenue skyrocketed from $130 million in 2019 (the service launched in November 2019) to $1.94 billion for all of 2020, a 1,412.5% growth, per ComprarAcciones. 

Disney+’s revenue growth will come back down to Earth over the next couple of years, but is still expected to be a hearty 47.9% growth in 2021 to $2.87 billion and 47.5% in 2022 to $4.23 billion.

As of the end of 2020, Disney+ holds 6.6% of the U.S. OTT market share. That is estimated to increase to 7.5% in 2021 and 9.3% in 2022.

Looking at the U.S. subscription video market as a whole (OTT and pay-TV), ComprarAcciones reported a total revenue of $115.57 billion in 2020. It projects that it will increase to $119.69 billion in 2021 and continue to rise, though with some leveling off, to reach $122.94 billion by 2024.

ComprarAcciones also shared data that streaming currently holds a 68% share of TV viewing, while traditional TV comes in at just 28%.

For more information, visit ComprarAcciones’ website. 

BURBANK, Calif.—Just about 16 months after launching, Disney+ has officially surpassed 100 million global paid subscribers. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek shared the news during Disney’s virtual Annual Meeting of Shareholders on March 9.

 Disney+ launched on Nov. 12, 2019. Today, it is available in 59 countries across North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Latin America and most recently Singapore. At the end of 2020, Disney reported that the streaming service had reached 95 million paid subscribers. 

The growth of Disney+ has far exceeded expectations. Prior to the service’s launch, Digital TV Research projected it wouldn’t hit 100 million global subscribers until 2025. Now, thanks in large part to buzz-worthy content like “The Mandalorian,” “Hamilton,” “WandaVision” and Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Fox and National Geographic library content, that projection has been bested by nearly four years.

Disney+ now joins Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as streaming services that have more than 100 million global paid subscribers. Netflix reported that it surpassed 200 million subscribers in January, while Amazon has a reported global subscriber base of around 150 million. 

“The enormous success of Disney+—which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers—has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content,” said Chapek. “In fact, we set a target of 100-plus new titles per year, and this includes Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. Our direct-to-consumer business is the company’s top priority, and our robust pipeline of content will continue to fuel its growth.”

BURBANK, Calif.—Disney+ ended 2020 on a high note, as the Walt Disney Company reports that the streaming service had just shy of 95 million paid subscribers as of Jan. 2. Disney’s strategy shift to focus more on its direct-to-consumer platforms is showing positive signs, as both ESPN+ and Hulu had healthy growths as well.

This new data comes from Walt Disney Company’s first quarter 2021 financial report.

The last figures Disney shared for the Disney+ streaming service was that subscription had reached 86.8 million subscribers as of Dec. 2, 2020. In the month span separating these two reports, Disney+ premiered the final three episodes of season two of “The Mandalorian” and the Pixar film “Soul” premiered on the service on Christmas Day. 

At the end of Q1 2020, Disney+ had a reported subscriber base of 26.5 million. Still just a little more than a year old, Disney+ has firmly established itself as one of the top streaming platforms, alongside Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Disney’s other streaming properties also had solid growth compared to their previous years. ESPN+ nearly doubled its subscription base, from 6.6 million to 12.1 million. Hulu saw a 30% growth from 30.4 million to 39.4 million combined for its SVOD only and live TV + SVOD plans.

In total, Disney’s DTC brands have more than 146 million paid subscribers, which generated $3.5 billion in Q1 2021 revenue.

“We believe the strategic actions we’re taking to transform our Company will fuel our growth and enhance shareholder value, as demonstrated by the incredible strides we’ve made in our DTC business, reaching more than 146 million total paid subscriptions across our streaming services at the end of the quarter,” said Bob Chapek, CEO, The Walt Disney Company. “We’re confident that, with our robust pipeline of exceptional, high-quality content and the upcoming launch of our new Star-branded international general entertainment offering, we are well-positioned to achieve even greater success going forward.”

Disney’s financial report also covered the traditional TV side of its business, which saw minimal growth year-over-year. Across all of its linear networks, Disney reported $7.693 billion in revenue for Q1 2021, just 2% more than Q1 2020. Domestically the growth was smaller, with Disney’s domestic channels increasing only 1% to $6.1 billion; international channels saw a 5% growth year-over-year.

There was a decrease in operating income, which Disney says was a result of lower results at its cable business, but which was offset by an increase in its broadcasting business.

Disney’s full Q1 2021 financial report is available online. 

MANCHESTER, U.K.—Dragons were replaced by Baby Yoda as the most-pirated TV content for 2020, as TorrentFreak reported its annual top 10 list of most-pirated TV shows, which saw the “Star Wars”-based Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” lead the way.

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” had held a seven-year streak as the most-pirated show, but with the series ending in 2019, a new champion was bound to emerge. “The Mandalorian” (the third most-pirated show in 2019) now headlines a new top three that also consisted of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” and HBO’s “Westworld”—both of which had not been on the list in 2019.

TorrentFreak says that the three most popular titles being on three separate subscription services, which not everyone may be able to afford, is an example of the piracy problem.

PLUS: Pirating Streamed Content to Become Felony

The other top 10 most-pirated shows are as follows: “Vikings,” “Star Trek: Picard,” “Rick and Morty,” “The Walking Dead,” “The Outsider,” “Arrow” and “The Flash.”

TorrentFreak’s rankings are based on BitTorrent statistics for downloads of single episodes worldwide. 

BURBANK, Calif.—Disney+ has been a force of nature since it arrived one year ago, having amassed 86.8 million subscribers as of Dec. 2, according to the latest numbers from The Walt Disney Company. Upon its release in November 2019, Disney’s stated highest expectations was that Disney+ would reach 90 million subscribers by 2024.

The updated figures came from Disney’s 2020 Investor Day, which in addition to unveiling subscriber numbers for Disney+ and its other streaming platforms (Hulu and ESPN+), the company announced future strategies based around its streaming services, which are becoming a central figure in the company’s strategy.

In addition to Disney+’s 86.8 million subscribers, Disney reported that Hulu now has 38.8 million subscribers and ESPN+ has 11.5 million subscribers. This brings the total number of people subscribing to Disney-owned streaming services to 137 million. As Disney plans to boost its content output on streaming services, it now expects that by 2024 its streaming services will have 300-350 million total subscribers.

Beyond the numbers, Disney announced that it will be raising the price of Disney+ by $1 come March 26, 2021. At that point, the service will cost $7.99 per month, or $79.99 per year. The Disney Bundle, which packages Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, will be $13.99 per month.

Disney also announced a new agreement with Comcast that will bring Disney+ and ESPN+ to Comcast X1 set-top boxes and Flex platforms in the first quarter of 2021. Hulu customers will also now be able to subscribe to ESPN+ within the Hulu user interface and access ESPN+ content there as of early 2021, the company added.

In addition, Disney announced a new international general entertainment content brand, Star. Star will be included as part of Disney+ in some international markets and offered as a separate streaming service in Latin America, known as Star+. Star will host content from Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios, 20th Television, as well as local programming where available.

As part of its strategy to continue to grow the Disney+ brand, Disney announced a slew of news about upcoming content. The company announced that it will offer 10 new “Star Wars,” 10 new Marvel and 15 Disney live action, Disney animation and Pixar series to the streamer. There will also be 15 live action, Disney animation and Pixar movies released on the platform as well.

Another strategy that was revealed during the Investor Day was what Disney would do with its 2021 slate of films following the news that Warner Bros. plans to release its 2021 films on HBO Max the same day as theatrical at no additional cost to subscribers. Disney has not taken such a bold step. While some titles were moved exclusively to streaming (live-action “Pinocchio” and “Peter Pan and Wendy” movies) the studio’s upcoming animated movie “Raya and the Last Dragon” will be released the same day on Disney+ as in theaters, but for a $30 premium price on top of monthly subscription fees; this is the same strategy Disney took with “Mulan” over the summer. Other major Disney movies, like "Black Widow," are still scheduled to play exclusively in theaters.

For more information and news from Disney’s 2020 Investor Day, visit The Walt Disney Company website. 

LONDON—It’s becoming increasingly difficult to stream all the content you want with only one or two streaming services. The licensing of studio content to third-party platforms (i.e. Netflix) has pulled back as new services like Disney+ and HBO Max debut from major studios, leading households to add more streaming services if they want to have access to some of the content they previously had, as well as popular new titles.

This is according to a new report from Ampere Analysis on the U.S. and European subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) markets. Ampere finds that the average U.S. streaming household now subscribes to four different SVODs.

Over a 12 month period (Q3 2019-Q3 2020), the number of U.S. SVOD contracts shot up from 169 million to 308 million, impacted in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. In that time, new services made inroads—Disney+ added 40 million U.S. subscribers, while other new streamers Peacock and HBO Max brought in a combined 45 million.

Per Ampere’s findings, the typical U.S. household now has access to 90,000 hours of content, roughly equal to 10 years of continuous playback.

But there’s a give and take to that number. The focus on direct-to-consumer content from major studios is drying up the content the likes of Netflix and Amazon can license for their own services, which is causing their libraries to shrink. Amazon, which has the largest catalog in the U.S., has lost 6,000 hours of content since Q3 2019. Hulu, meanwhile, has lost 12,000 hours since Q3 2018.

“Consumers will have more access to high-quality content than ever before as new and existing services compete to produce more original content,” said Alexios Dimitropoulos, research manager at Ampere. “However, as studios continue with their direct-to-consumer strategy, the golden age of access to cheap content is coming to a close.”

Additional findings from the Ampere report show that households with young children are more likely to have more SVOD services. A U.S. family with elementary-age children has an average of five streaming services. Those with Disney+ also are more likely to have more SVOD services, but ones with smaller content catalogs, like ESPN+, which can be bundled with Disney+.

For more information, visit www.ampereanalysis.com. 

LOS ANGELES—Netflix’s undisputed title as king of the streaming platforms may be in danger because of the continued emergence and growth of newer streaming platforms. This is according to data compiled by Ranker using the TV recommendation app Watchworthy.

The Watchworthy app offers personalized TV recommendations and allows users to build their own watchlists from TV networks and more than 200 streaming services, including Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and more.

According to Ranker’s report, Netflix is the top service, followed by other long-established streamers Amazon Prime and Hulu. Disney+, HBO Max and Apple TV+ immediately follow in that order. As far as new streaming services, Disney+ leads the way, followed by HBO Max, Apple TV+, Showtime Anywhere and IMDB TV.

Watchworthy data shows that Netflix has been losing momentum in recent months. Until September, 56% of new Watchworthy users were Netflix subscribers. Since October, Netflix subscribers haven’t made up more than 40% of new users, including at one point being as low as 13%. Still, no other platform has had a higher share of Watchworthy users than Netflix at any given point in 2020.

Watchworthy also highlighted the shows that users added to their Watchlists throughout October. Netflix content made up nearly 40% of the shows added to Watchlists; Hulu and HBO Max were the next two closest competitors.

“The emergence of newer upstarts like Disney+ and HBO Max have only made the battle for our valuable streaming time that more intense, in turn giving the big three—Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video—all the more reason to compete for our attention,” said Clark Benson, CEO and founder of Ranker. “We’re now able to get a sense of who might be winning the streaming wars by taking a closer look at the way in which people are using Watchworty—especially in a pandemic where staying home is the norm and app usage is at an all time high.”

Ranker’s report also highlighted Watchworthy data for traditional TV networks and cable channels. ABC led the way for TV networks, followed by CBS, Fox and NBC. For cable channels, HBO Max was first, then Starz, Showtime, A&E and HBO Nox.

For more information, visit www.ranker.com.  

Over the past year the public has shown a willingness to subscribe to over-the-top services beyond Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu as new services like Disney+ attract customers who are spending more time at home since the COVID-19 pandemic began limiting entertainment options, new research from Parks Associates finds.

“It’s [2020 is] unlike any other year in streaming,” says Parks Associates Research Director Steve Nason. “There’s the launch of several high-profile subscription-based services that are attempting to challenge those big three.”

Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock, as well as the recently rebranded CBS All Access fortified with more content and renamed Paramount+, are giving the public more OTT choices, and they are responding, says Nason.

“What's happening with our latest data is that [it reveals] subscribers are tacking on a lot of these additional services instead of just having one or more of the big three,” he says. “They are tacking on an HBO Max, a Peacock, an Apple TV+ or, of course, Disney+, which continues to accelerate at such a high speed. Our new research is showing us the impact of these new challengers on the big three.”

The findings, part of Parks Associates’ new “The Next ‘Big 3 in OTT,” reveal 61% of U.S. broadband households subscribed to two or more OTT services as of Q3 2020, up from 48% in 2019. 

Forty-five percent subscribe to three or more OTT services, an increase from 27% the previous year, and 31% pay for four or more services—up from 14%, the research reveals.

It also finds that 95% of U.S. OTT subscribers subscribe to one of the big three; 61% subscribe to Netflix, 47% to Amazon Prime Video, 36% to Hulu and 31% to Disney+.

Growth in OTT service uptake appears to be part of a larger trend that finds the public consuming more entertainment content—whether on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, via ad-supported OTT services like Pluto TV or through subscription services—as consumers limit possible exposure to COVID-19 outside the home, he says.

“… [B]ecause people are staying home, they're not going out as much, not going on vacations as much. When they’re not working, they are looking to be entertained. There are children doing school from home and more people working from home, so that has driven up consumption,” says Nason.

At least for the moment, the cost of an additional OTT service does not appear to be dissuading consumers nor is it driving consumers to replace one of the big three, he says.

“Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix have been in the market so long and have such brand affinity they are really ingrained as part of people’s entertainment activities,” he says. “We are seeing the cancellation rates for those services are really low.”

PLUS: Parks: Netflix Remains OTT King as New Services Make Inroads

For the moment, people are simply adding on another OTT service. “They are not using that money they could save—$14 on Netflix, for instance—to go to HBO Max or Disney+,” he says. “We’ll see if that continues and at what point that changes.”

Even if consumers reach that point it is unlikely they will drop the big three “unless something dramatic happens” with one of them, says Nason. 

If any of the newcomers has a chance to make a real dent in the big three, it’s Disney+, he says. “They just accelerated—not only in the U.S., but globally—beyond what I think even Disney anticipated was going to happen. So there is the potential that it will become the big four down the line.”

More information about the new Parks Associates report is available online. 

DALLAS—While no one has knocked Netflix or the other well-established streaming platforms off their perch, the new players in the market have made moves and planted themselves firmly in the top 10 of Parks Associates’ U.S. subscription OTT video services rankings for the third quarter of 2020.

Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu continue to round out the top three services, per Parks’ report, but the list below them is now quite different. Disney+ comes in fourth, with HBO Max (sixth) and Apple TV+ (seventh) also among the year-old or less services earning spots. Parks reports that Peacock, another of the newest services, is making inroads with paid subscriptions, but its user base consists mainly of those accessing its free ad-supported tier.

“For many years, the Big 3 in OTT, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu, have ruled the top of the subscription-based OTT service space," said Steve Nason, research director, Parks Associates. "However, with newer entrants and expanded offerings, that trend may be about to change. The Big 3 and their main challengers have gone to market with varying content and distribution strategies, with the same goal in mind: reach elusive consumers with a compelling content offering and user experience to be a foundational essential service in an OTT subscriber's service stack."

Disney+ recently reported that it had more than 73 million subscribers just about a year after launching. However, Parks notes that Disney+ has remained in the fourth spot on this list since its launch, showing the challenge in overtaking any of the top three services.

In addition, HBO Max will also hope to boost its subscriber base with the launch of its service on Amazon Fire TV devices.

Here is the Parks’ complete top 10:

Sling TV and MLB.tv were knocked out of the top 10 in this most recent report.

For more information, visit www.parksassociates.com.  

BURBANK, Calif.—As Disney+ celebrates its one-year anniversary, The Walt Disney Company has shared that its streaming platform is being enjoyed by more than 73 million subscribers.

In Disney’s Fourth Quarter and Full Year Earnings report for FY 2020, which includes numbers up to Oct. 3, Disney+ is reported to have 73.7 million paid subscribers. When the SVOD first launched, Disney had a stated goal of having 60-90 million subscribers in its first five years, a benchmark that it announced it cleared back in August.

Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said that Disney+, and the other direct-to-consumer aspects of its business, was a bright spot in a year beset by the pandemic, saying that DTC is “key to the future of our company;” a statement backed up earlier this year when Disney began a company reorganization.

Disney’s other direct-to-consumer offerings, ESPN+ and Hulu, also saw strong growth. ESPN+ went from 3.5 million subscribers at the end of FY 2019 to 10.3 million at the end of FY 2020. Hulu, between its live TV & SVOD and SVOD-only packages, increased 28.5 million in 2019 to 36.6 million in 2020.

As for the financials, Disney reported fourth quarter 2020 DTC & international revenues increased to $4.9 billion (up from $3.4 billion in 2019), with its operating loss decreasing from $751 million to $580 million. The full-year revenue for DTC came in at $16.9 billion, up from 2019’s nearly $9.4 billion.

Beyond DTC, Disney also shared its financials for its media networks. Between cable and broadcasting, Disney ended the year with just shy of $28.4 billion in revenue, a 14% increase from 2019’s $24.8 billion. Cable and broadcasting each increased individually for the year—and fourth quarter—with cable increasing 9% for all of 2020 to $17.9 billion (11% for Q4 to $4.7 billion) and broadcasting jumping 25% to $10.4 billion (10% in Q4 to almost $2.5 billion).

Disney acknowledged that COVID-19 had a negative impact on cable networks like ESPN, with many sporting events delayed or cancelled, but that they were offset by growths from the likes of FX Networks and Domestic Disney channels. Broadcasting, meanwhile, increased due to affiliate revenue growth and lower network programming and production costs, again impacted by COVID-19, the company said.

For a full look at Disney’s yearly and Q4 financials, visit Disney’s website. 

BURBANK, Calif.—The combination of the success of Disney+ with the financial struggles caused by the pandemic is transforming The Walt Disney Company’s direct-to-consumer strategy, as the company announced a reorganization of its media and entertainment business to put a greater focus on developing and producing original content for its streaming platforms.

There will be three distinct groups for creating content—Studios, General Entertainment and Sports. Studios, led by Alan Horn and Alan Bergman, will handle the theatrical and episodic content like Marvel, Star Wars and Disney live action and animation for theatrical, Disney+ and other streaming platforms. General Entertainment, led by Peter Rice, oversees 20th Television, ABC Signature, ABC News, Disney Channels, Freeform, FX and National Geographic and will create episodic and original long-form content. Sports, led by James Pitaro, will be responsible for ESPN live sports programming, sports news and original and non-scripted sports-related content for cable channels, ESPN+ and ABC.

Meanwhile, a new single, global Media and Entertainment Distribution organization will be responsible for overseeing legacy platforms as well as monetization of content—both distribution and ad sales. Kareem Daniel, former president of Consumer Products, Games and Publishing, will head the Media and Entertainment Distribution group. The Media and Entertainment Distribution group will also manage the operations of Disney’s streaming services and domestic TV networks.

“Given the incredible success of Disney+ and our plans to accelerate our direct-to-consumer business, we are strategically positioning our company to more effectively support our growth strategy and increase shareholder value,” said Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Managing content creation distinct from distribution will allow us to be more effective and nimble in making the content consumers want most, delivered in the way they prefer to consume it. Our creative teams will concentrate on what they do best—making world-class, franchise-based content—while our newly centralized global distribution team will focus on delivering and monetizing that content in the most optimal way across all platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and the coming Star international streaming service.”

The new structure is effective immediately at Disney, with financial reporting expected to transition to the new structure in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021.

On Dec. 10, Disney will conduct a virtual Investor Day where it will present further details of its new DTC strategies.

NEW YORK—Disney has created a new magic kingdom in the land of streaming with its Disney+ platform, according to media analyst Michael Nathanson, and one that he projects to see substantial growth over the next four years.

According to a recent report from Disney in August, Disney+ has around 60.5 million subscribers worldwide. Nathanson is now projecting that by 2024 that number will grow to 155 million globally, with 50 million subscribers here in the U.S. 

Launching in November of 2019, Disney’s streaming platform reported 26.5 million subscribers at the end of the year. About 24 million of which were domestic, according to Nathanson, which made up about 20% of broadband subscribers in the U.S. 

Prior to this take off, Nathanson estimated that Disney+ would have 25 million subscribers by 2024—Disney itself was projecting 60-90 million in that time frame. Now, with the real-life example, Nathanson is expecting Disney+ to grow to make up 42% of the U.S. broadband subscribers by 2024. Netflix, by comparison, is expected to make up 57% of subscribers.

Nathanson contributes the success of Disney+ to its aggressive pricing and strong programming and believes that it will continue to drive the business.

“Disney has proven to the Street (Wall Street) that Disney+ is a big enough lifeboat to help the company reach the other side of this media landscape upheaval in a strong position,” Nathanson said.

A full analysis of Nathanson’s report is available on TVT’s sister publication Multichannel News. 

BURBANK, Calif.—Friends and family can watch season two of “The Mandalorian,” or any other Disney+ TV show or film, while in different locations with the launch of the new “GroupWatch” feature on Disney’s streaming platform.

This new Disney+ feature will enable seven people (a host and up to six other co-watchers) to simultaneously watch a program from different locations. GroupWatch is enabled on all platforms that support the Disney+ app, but all participants must be Disney+ subscribers. No chat feature will be available at the onset, as participants will only be able to communicate via emojis.

Disney+ began a trial of the GroupWatch feature earlier in September in Canada, but now it is officially being rolled out in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

Disney+ joins other streamers like Netflix and SlingTV that have added watch party features during COVID-19, though according to Disney they had been working on GroupWatch prior to the pandemic. 

LONDON—The global streaming industry will have reached $100 billion by 2025, according to the latest report from Digital TV Research. That would represent a doubling of its value from the $50 billion that SVOD revenues generated in 2019.

While the U.S. is projected to remain the leader in SVOD revenue—growing $18 billion from 2019 to 2025 to bring its total to $42 billion—its share of the global revenue will fall from 49% to 42%. This is because 16 countries are expected to exceed $1 billion in SVOD revenue in 2025, up from eight in 2019.

In terms of global subscribers, Digital TV research estimates a growth of 529 million between 2019 and 2025, bringing the global total to 1.17 billion. China and the U.S. are expected to make up 51% of this global total. However, that number is actually down from 2019, when China and the U.S. made up 63% of all subscribers. Like with revenue, Digital TV Research points to this as an example of the growing presence of SVOD in other countries.

While more countries are taking up the streaming market, by 2025 three streaming platforms are likely to control half of the world’s subscriptions, per Digital TV Research—Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. Netflix is projected to lead the way in subscribers with 263 million, up 91 million from 2019, but Disney+ is forecasted to have the biggest growth, with an estimated 142 million subscribers signing up for the streaming platform, bringing its total to 172 million subscribers. Those numbers for Disney+ are actually a lowering of expectations, according to Digital TV Research.

“We believe that Disney+ will have a huge impact. However, we have lowered our 2025 forecasts by 30 million since our May edition,” said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research. “Analysis of Disney’s June results showed a rapid deceleration in subscriber additions after an initial spike in its early launch countries. We expect this to be repeated elsewhere.”

In addition, a third of the world’s TV households are expected to have at least one SVOD subscription by 2025, up from a quarter of homes at the end of 2019, per Digital TV Research.

The full report is available through Digital TV Research’s website.