On May 19, 2022, Disney reported a significant milestone at the Disney Bundle Celebrating National Streaming Day in Los Angeles, highlighting an estimated 157 million global monthly active users across its streaming platforms—Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. This figure includes 112 million users in the U.S., with metrics derived from accounts that engaged with ad-supported content for over ten seconds. Disney aims to establish a clear methodology for measuring streaming audience sizes, which has been inconsistent across the industry. Disney’s president of global advertising, Rita Ferro, emphasized the company’s commitment to providing transparency about its ad-supported user metrics.
As traditional TV revenues decline, media companies like Disney are increasingly focusing on ad-supported streaming to boost profitability. CEO Bob Iger indicated a push towards ad-supported tiers, as the company raised prices on ad-free options. Disney+ alone had 122.7 million subscribers, while Hulu and ESPN+ reported 52 million and 25.6 million, respectively. The mixed subscriber pool has impacted average revenue per user for Disney+, slightly decreasing it but indicating a positive trend as over half of new U.S. Disney+ subscribers opted for the cheaper ad-supported tier.
