Transcript:
Conway Gittens: I’m Conway Gittens reporting from New York City. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Disney is touting new subscriber numbers for its streaming platforms: Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. The entertainment conglomerate says it has 157 million global monthly active users for its ad-supported content. The bulk of that is coming from the U.S., where 112 million have signed up for the service.
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This is the first time Disney has revealed these metrics in detail. The significance is underscored by the fact Disney chose the annual Consumer Electronics Show for the revelation. CES, as it is known, is a premier gathering for tech companies, advertisers, and the media. These numbers reveal that as traditional cable TV operators are struggling to hold viewers, streamers are finding success – even with commercials.
But it’s not just a simple apples-to-apples comparison. While traditional media has a standard for counting viewers for advertisers, the streaming industry does not. Take Disney for example, that 157 million global number is derived by counting those who watch a program for at least 10 seconds on Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN+. Disney then multiples that by how many people it thinks is watching the video on that account. It counts viewers on all three platforms individually, which means viewers can be double or triple counted. The number is also averaged over a six-month period.
Despite the complexities, Disney’s subscriber numbers still show ad-supported streaming is gaining momentum. Cost, no doubt, is a major factor. The price for the Disney ad-free streaming bundle costs $16.99 a month, compared to the average monthly cable bill, which costs around 100-bucks a month.
That’ll do it for your Daily Briefing. From New York City, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
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