Disney’s Global Streaming Audience Reaches 157 Million
Disney recently announced that approximately 157 million global monthly active users are streaming content with ads across its platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. This figure includes 112 million domestic users and represents an average calculated over the past six months.
Unlike traditional TV ratings, where standard measurement systems exist, there is still no universal method for measuring Disney’s global streaming audiences for advertising purposes. To address this gap, Disney’s advertising division has developed a methodology to estimate ad-supported audience numbers consistently across the world.
New Methodology for Audience Measurement
Disney shared that its new measurement approach is based on active accounts across its streaming services that have continuously viewed ad-supported content for more than 10 seconds. Each active account is multiplied by an estimated number of users per account to calculate the total audience size. However, the figures reported do not account for overlapping subscribers across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, meaning users subscribed to multiple platforms may be counted more than once.
The updated audience numbers and measurement methodology were presented at the annual CES tech conference in Las Vegas, a significant event for the media and advertising industry. Disney aims to offer greater transparency in how it estimates its global ad-supported streaming audience as part of its efforts to attract more advertising investments.
The Rise of Ad-Supported Streaming Tiers
In recent years, media companies have increasingly focused on maximizing revenue from their streaming services, with ad-supported tiers becoming a key part of this strategy. Initially, many platforms, including Disney+, launched as subscription-based services without ads. However, as competition grew, companies introduced cheaper, ad-supported plans to attract a wider audience while generating advertising revenue.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has previously stated that the company aims to encourage more customers to choose its ad-supported tiers. To promote this shift, Disney has raised prices for its commercial-free plans since introducing Disney+ with ads in late 2022.
Hulu, also owned by Disney, was among the first streaming platforms to offer an ad-supported option. Disney+ followed suit more recently by launching its ad-supported tier.
Subscriber Growth and Revenue Insights
As of November, Disney reported having 122.7 million Disney+ Core subscribers, excluding its Disney+ Hotstar service in India and other countries in the region. Hulu reported 52 million subscribers, while ESPN+ had 25.6 million paid subscribers.
Although Disney has not previously disclosed how many subscribers specifically use the ad-supported plans, executives mentioned in a recent earnings call that over half of new U.S. Disney+ subscribers were opting for the cheaper, ad-supported option. This trend is seen as a positive indicator of future growth.
However, the rise in ad-supported users has slightly impacted revenue per user. Disney noted that the average revenue per domestic Disney+ subscriber dropped from $7.74 to $7.70. The decrease was attributed to a higher mix of customers choosing the lower-priced, ad-supported plans and wholesale package deals.
Streaming Business Performance and Future Outlook
Disney remains optimistic about the future growth of its streaming platforms. During the last earnings report, Disney’s global streaming services, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, posted an operating income of $321 million for the September quarter. This marks a significant improvement from the $387 million loss reported during the same period the previous year.
Company executives have expressed confidence that the streaming business will continue to be a major growth driver moving forward. Disney is set to release its fiscal first-quarter earnings on February 5, which will provide further insights into the performance of its streaming platforms.
