Disney has just revealed some huge viewing numbers for their streamers that put them away ahead of the competition!
The streaming wars show no signs of slowing down, as every studio wants a piece of the pie. What was once a monopoly by Netflix has spread with Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, Apple TV+, and more. Disney+ has obviously been a huge one, although it’s been experiencing some growing pains.
Despite success with the Star Wars and Marvel shows, the streamer has had a lot of series that only lasted a season or two. There was also the controversial decision to purge numerous shows from the streamer in a cost-cutting measure.
It’s not just Disney+ as the company also has Hulu and ESPN+ and a new partnership with HBO. Most subscribers will go for what was the standard for these streamers, an ad-free experience. That’s always been a draw, being able to stream these shows without ad breaks.
However, even these big studios have to bow to economics. Streaming services aren’t cheap, especially with big-budget series and movies and so even Netflix has resorted to offering a basic ad-supported tier and the enticement of paying more for ad-free.
At the 5th annual Tech and Data Showcase at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Wednesday, Jan. 8, Disney Entertainment revealed that between Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+, they can boast a whopping 157 million viewers in their ad-supported viewership.
For the record, viewing numbers are judged by accounts that viewed ad-supported content for more than 10 seconds, and the number is estimated based on the number of users per account multiplied by the estimated number of users per account household, roughly 2.6 people globally on average (Per IndieWire).
In comparison, Netflix reported that in November, they had 70 million views on the new ad-supported plan. That may have gone up thanks to Netflix’s live coverage of a Logan Paul-Mike Tyson boxing fight and some Christmas Day NFL games. That was followed by them debuting the long-running WWE Monday Night Raw in January 2025.
However, those live events were marked by complaints about the video quality and buffering. In contrast, Disney (especially ESPN) has long been praised for providing top live-streaming coverage of sports events.
“These are real viewers who are actively watching, loving, and sharing the content we create,” said Rita Ferro, Disney’s President of Global Advertising, during the Disney Global Tech & Data Showcase. That line is no doubt a mild swipe at Netflix.
Disney has an obvious advantage in that subscribers can choose any of these services on their own or in special bundle deals. It’s not certain what the numbers are for the ad-free tiers, yet this shows folks don’t mind putting up with ad breaks to watch the content.
This won’t be the end of Disney’s streaming dominance. They just settled a complex lawsuit with Fubo to own that sports-centered streamer. The initial plan is for a new steamer tentatively called Flagship which will integrate fantasy and better into sports coverage.
For now, Disney is more than happy to enjoy this dominance in the streaming battles and preparing for even more content in the future.