Disney+ Isn’t Disney’s Only Struggling Streamer

It’s been almost four years since The Walt Disney Company launched its streaming platform, Disney+. And for nearly all of those four years, Disney+ has appeared to be nothing but a headache for the studio giant. Many flocked to Disney+ in the months after the streamer’s launch, with the pandemic boosting subscriber numbers. Unfortunately, Disney was never able to maintain that initial excitement. The production costs on content paired with the decrease in subscribers is hurting Disney where it matters most — its wallet.

Every quarter, Disney+ loses millions of subscribers. The streamer is not set to be profitable until 2024, but that time frame is up for debate, especially since now-fired CEO Bob Chapek has been accused of lying about the profitability of Disney+. However, Disney+ is not the only streaming service owned by Disney. The House of Mouse also has a controlling interest in Hulu, which is known for hit shows like The Handmaid’s Tale and Only Murders in the Building. While Hulu is one of the most popular streamers out there, it is now falling behind a relative newcomer.

According to a new report from Parrot Analytics, Paramount+ is beating out Hulu when it comes to audience demand for new originals. That means that Paramount+ subscribers are watching new originals launched on the platform at a higher rate than those who watch Hulu originals. Paramount+ is also finding huge success with the movies in its streaming library. That moved Paramount+ to just behind Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Apple TV+. Paramount+ currently ranks ahead of Hulu, Max, and other smaller streaming services.

Per TheWrap:

A key strength of Paramount+’s movie library is the inclusion of Paramount Pictures hits, with movies like “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Titanic” and “Top Gun” among the most in-demand.

Its appeal is further amplified by its exclusive housing of recent Paramount blockbusters in the U.S. market, such as “Rise of the Beasts,” which despite underperforming at the box office, is still generating interest, as is 2018’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout.” These helped Paramount+ to attract more subscribers.

Like its TV offerings, much of Paramount+’s movie demand comes from well-known IP and franchises like “Transformers,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Top Gun,” and the older “Indiana Jones” movies. (“Dial of Destiny” is going to Disney+, but rights to the first four movies are shared with Disney thanks to Paramount’s role as the distributor for the earlier films.) 

Paramount+ has only been around for about two years, and has amassed nearly 61 million subscribers who want Paramount Network content. That is well below Disney+’s number of 146 million, but Paramount+ is headed in the right direction, while Disney+ is on a downward slope. Between quarter two and quarter three, Disney+ lost an estimated 11 million subscribers.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has pointed out that Disney+ is seeing an increase in subscribers for its cheaper, ad-supported tier. But that needs to be offset by the fact that Disney is planning another price increase for the ad-free tier, the second increase in a year. Between the price increases and the constant purging of material, many are saying that they are planning on canceling Disney+ altogether.