Jimmy Kimmel‘s short-lived suspension from ABC may have had a significant impact on Disney+ subscriptions, according to new data from the subscription analytics firm Antenna, which tracks subscriptions and viewership data for major streaming services.
Antenna on Monday released numbers showing that monthly churn rates for Disney+ and Hulu surged from 4 percent and 5 percent in August to 8 percent and 10 percent in September, respectively. The doubling of cancelation rates stood out in a streaming landscape where churn rates typically remain somewhat consistent.
Disney+ churn rates had been steady at around 3-4 percent per month consistently this year, with churn rates at Hulu hovering at 4-5 percent per month. Peacock saw churn rates stable in the 6-8 percent range, Paramount+ in the 5-7 percent range, and HBO Max in the 6-9 percent range. Netflix is king of the hill, with a consistent churn rate of only 2 percent per month. Disney had been second, until September that is.
A source notes, however, that the pending cancelations subsided quickly, and that while people tend to be loud when dropping a service, they often quietly return afterward. Ratings for Kimmel’s show have also soared after the move.
The Antenna data also carries some asterisks, a Disney source notes. It is not clear how Antenna views upgrades or downgrades as part of Disney’s wholesale business, and that the numbers appear higher than Disney’s internal data. It’s also not clear how many subscribers left because of Kimmel and how many left because of planned price hikes that were announced amid the drama.
The elevated churn came amid Kimmel’s suspension from his ABC late night show over a somewhat ambiguously worded on-air comment on the Sept. 15 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live! about Charlie Kirk’s assassin that could easily be read as suggesting the suspect was a MAGA conservative — despite evidence to the contrary. The quote went viral, sparking plenty of online backlash.
ABC ultimately returned him to the air after less than a week, but his suspension sparked enormous outrage, with many users on social media urging followers to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions. In fact, Kimmel’s friend, the influential SiriusXM host Howard Stern, said on his show that he had canceled Disney+ in protest of the move by Disney.
The data from Antenna is the first real sign that the protest may have had an impact on Disney’s bottom line, though we may never actually know for sure how impactful it was. As THR noted, due to the timing of billing cycles, protest cancelations may not be reflected in Disney’s next earnings report, and the company will stop reporting subscriber numbers in the following report in a previously announced decision.
Still, the new data suggests that churn doubled, which would be consistent with a loss of around three million subscribers.
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