Las Vegas, U.S. – Disney announced on Wednesday that it has an estimated 157 million global monthly active users watching ad-supported content across its streaming platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. The figures revealed during the annual CES tech conference in Las Vegas, represent an average monthly audience over the past six months, with 112 million users located in the United States.
The announcement highlights Disney’s efforts to provide greater transparency regarding its ad-supported streaming audience size, a critical metric as media companies increasingly shift their focus toward profitability through advertising.
“Disney sits at the intersection of world-class sports and entertainment content, with the most high-value audiences in ad-supported global streaming at scale,” said Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, in a statement. She noted that Disney is leading efforts to standardise the methodology for measuring ad-supported audience sizes.
New Methodology for Audience Estimates
Disney explained that its audience metric is calculated by analysing active accounts across its three streaming services that have viewed ad-supported content for more than 10 seconds continuously. The number of users per account is estimated and multiplied accordingly, with figures aggregated across platforms without de-duplication — meaning users subscribed to multiple services may be counted more than once.
The company introduced Disney+ with an ad-supported tier in late 2022 and has since raised prices for its commercial-free plans to encourage adoption of its lower-cost, ad-supported options.
Focus on Streaming Growth
Ad-supported streaming has become a central focus for Disney and other media companies as they aim to make their streaming businesses profitable. Platforms that once relied solely on subscription revenue have pivoted to introducing advertising tiers, offering cheaper options to attract a broader audience.
In November, Disney reported 122.7 million Disney+ Core subscribers (excluding Disney+ Hotstar), 52 million Hulu subscribers, and 25.6 million ESPN+ subscribers. While the company does not break down the number of ad-supported subscribers, executives stated that more than half of new U.S. Disney+ subscribers opted for the ad-supported tier.
This shift has impacted Disney’s average revenue per user (ARPU) for domestic Disney+ customers, which dropped from $7.74 to $7.70 due to a growing mix of ad-supported and wholesale customers.
Despite these changes, Disney’s streaming business has shown significant improvement. For the September quarter, the company’s combined streaming operations, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, posted $321 million in operating income, a turnaround from a $387 million loss in the same period the previous year.
Looking Ahead
Disney CEO Bob Iger has emphasised confidence in streaming as a “significant growth area” for the company. As Disney continues refining its ad-supported offerings, it aims to balance audience growth with increased profitability.
The company is set to report its fiscal first-quarter earnings on February 5, offering further insights into its streaming performance and overall business strategy.
