Credit: Inside the MagicThis year marked some historic moments–both good and bad–for The Walt Disney Company’s streaming service, Disney+. Now, as the fourth quarter results roll in, has Disney+ continued to create a positive impact for the House of Mouse?
This year, The Walt Disney Company’s Disney+ streamer turned five years old. Over the half a decade the service has been operating, it has not had a straightforward journey, and only this year, in Q3, did Disney+ post a profit. That said, executives always believed in the eventual power of a Disney-owned and operated service even as subscribers fled.
In Q4, Disney confirmed high engagement for the streamer, with core Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions sitting at 174 million. The Mouse House states that Q4 saw 4.4 million new core Disney+ subscriptions, driven by “strong content like Inside Out 2, Descendants: The Rise of Red, and Agatha All Along” (per the company’s quarterly executive summary).
“Bundle subscriptions continued to grow,” Disney added, “with Hulu on Disney+ driving strong engagement with content like The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”
Disney has made it clear that their “already-profitable” streaming business is a big growth driver for the company and “has the largest share of U.S. viewership across all distribution formats, from theatrical releases to linear and streaming.”
Another big theatrical success was Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), which broke R-rated box office records during its summer release and scored Disney its second billion-dollar hit following June’s Inside Out 2 (2024).
Looking ahead, it’s clear how Disney will continue to build upon its Disney+ foundation. On December 4, the ESPN tile will be added to Disney+, giving the Trio Bundle subscriber base full access to ESPN+. “We will also make select ESPN content available to all Disney+ subscribers,” Disney added. That content will include live events, games, studio shows, series, and documentaries.
The Mouse House also confirmed that over 50% of its United States-based Disney+ subscribers were on the ad-based tier, “which bodes well for the future.” They expect advertising to be a driver of Director-To-Consumer (DTC) moving forward.
While this is all good news for Disney and its subscribers, the streaming service has not been without its criticism and controversy in 2024. Earlier this year, Disney canceled Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Acolyte. The Star Wars show had become the center of a cultural firestorm that saw discourse and vitriol spread online about the cast and crew.
Ever since the show was announced as a female-centric Star Wars series, backlash commenced, reaching a fever pitch during its run on Disney+. Creator Leslye Headland and main star Amandla Stenberg (Osha/Mae Aniseya) were among those targeted by toxic fans. Despite setting up numerous future storylines, Disney canceled the show, citing low viewership.
The cancellation brought many back to Disney’s infamous 2023 purge, during which Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger led the charge to reduce the content on the streaming service. As part of a wider effort to wrangle Disney’s spending, Disney+ removed multiple shows, specials, and documentaries, including the not-even-six-month-old Willow series from Lucasfilm.
It’s clear that Disney+ is on an upward trend following positive third and fourth-quarter results, but in the digital age, where fans have more say than ever, will this trend continue?
How do you feel about these recent Disney+ updates? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!