New List Shows Exactly Where Disney+ Is Failing

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Disney Plus landing screen

Credit: Disney

The numbers for this area don’t look great for Disney+.

Disney+ (Disney Plus) on different devices including a laptop, mobile phone, smart tv, and tablet
Credit: Disney

One of former CEO Bob Chapek’s main focuses was streaming, particularly Disney+. To that end, Chapek poured a lot of time, energy, and resources into the platform to make it competitive with other streaming services that are now saturating the market. Despite this effort and huge popularity with fans and streamers, Disney+ is still struggling in one area in particular.

bob chapek disney plus
Credit: Disney

Related: ‘Encanto’ Breaks Internet, Soon Will Have Its Own Disney Parks Attraction

Disney+ leads Netflix in several areas. As of December 2022, Disney’s streaming service had surpassed the number of streaming subscribers that Netflix currently has by 15 million. This generally means that more people are watching or are able to watch Disney plus than the pioneering streaming service that Netflix offers, but the numbers don’t seem to reflect that.

Disney Netflix
Credit: (Left) Disney/(Right) Netflix

According to a new report from Nielsen, covered by Variety, Disney+ trailed way behind Netflix when it came to several different categories. Chiefly overall streaming, streaming originals, and acquired streaming programs. In fact, the only area in which Disney came out on top was streaming movies, in which the top two slots were occupied by Encanto (2021) and Turning Red (2022), with content from the Disney streaming service occupying ten of the 15 slots.

Mirabel Madrigal and Isabela Madrigal holding hands during the "What Else Can I Do" Musical number on Encanto
Credit: Disney

So, what was the top content streamed in 2022? According to the report, viewers across the world watched Stranger Things more than anything they watched from Disney. When it came to overall streaming, Disney didn’t even place second, third, or fourth, with Encanto falling behind NCIS, Cocomelon, and Ozark all on Netflix.

Joe Keery as Steve Harrington (far left), Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson (left), Natalia Dyer as Nancy (right), and Maya Hawke as Robin (far right)
Credit: Netflix

Despite having dozens of original series on Disney+, the first series that shows up in any of the rankings has been the immensely popular children’s show Bluey. If these lists are to be believed, it shows a substantially disproportionate viewership regarding original series. Not one of the Disney+ original series released in 2022 made the any of the lists despite high ratings and high production value.

Bluey with her family
Credit: Screen Rant

If the Walt Disney Company is to be successful with originals like Andor, Moon Knight, or The Mandalorian over Netflix and Amazon Prime Video something has to change. They’ve made a quality product a few times over now, and many have been critically acclaimed, garnering praise from critics and fans and nominations from award shows and film societies, but now they need to boost viewership.

'The Mandalorian' - Season Three Poster
Credit: Lucasfilm

Related: Steps You Can Take To Save Money On Your Disney Plus Subscription

How is this accomplished? There are countless things that the entertainment giant could do, but the test of time always proves if a new program like Disney+ will survive. If Disney can continue creating high-quality shows like The Mandalorian on a consistent basis, it will prove to the viewers and the market that the service is worth their time and their money.

Were you surprised by these numbers? Let us know in the comments below!

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