Disney Claims Half of the Most Popular Streaming Shows
Disney’s streaming strategy has come into focus in recent months.
Once The Walt Disney Company paid for the entirety of Hulu, Disney banked on a three-headed streaming monster.
Photo: Disney
ESPN+ locks down the live sports market, while Hulu and Disney+ offer television series and movies.
Recently, Disney+ added a Hulu tile, which allows users to watch programs like The Bear directly from the Disney+ app.
Photo: Disney
Now, Disney is receiving the dividends of its daring approach.
On the latest Nielsen streaming ratings chart, Disney programming claims half the most-watched streaming programs.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
Let’s discuss Disney’s many recent hits and also briefly talk about what comes next.
Disney’s Biggest Hits
The Walt Disney Company
People who have read any of my recent Nielsen articles know the deal here.
Disney streaming services host a series of programs that tend to hover around the charts.
Photo: Disney
Two of them tower above the rest, although one comes with an asterisk. But the other one…most assuredly does not.
Of course, I’m referring to Bluey, which remains on pace to be the most-watched streaming program of 2024 after finishing second in 2023.
Photo: Bluey
As a reminder, the Nielsen ratings are always four weeks behind for reasons passing understanding.
So, we’re evaluating the Nielsen streaming charts for the week of May 27th through June 2nd, 2024.
Photo: Disney
For that week, Bluey was the second-most-watched program on streaming with 1.209 billion minutes watched.
That total reflects an increase of roughly 150 million minutes from last time.
Photo: Disney+
Still, Bluey couldn’t overtake the reigning champion, Bridgerton season three, which had 1.38 billion minutes watched.
Disney’s Hulu and Bridgerton’s Netflix share custody of Grey’s Anatomy, meaning the show airs on both services.
Photo: Disney+
Grey’s is a recurring blockbuster performer and finished third for the week with 1.197 million minutes, a really good number for it.
Disney had three other shows in the overall top ten for the week.
Photo: FOX
Family Guy had an excellent week with 868 million minutes, while the weirdly popular Reba managed 707 million minutes.
Finally, Bob’s Burgers returned to the top ten with 682 million minutes.
IMDB
The three shows finished sixth, ninth, and tenth, giving Disney programming half the top ten.
Notably, four of those series are from Netflix, with Bluey the only Disney+ content.
Then again, as mentioned, you can watch all five of them on Disney+, presuming you also subscribe to Hulu.
Disney’s Other Hits
(Center to right): Jedi Padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) and Master Lakshay (Paul Bullion) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
The one area where Disney has been lacking lately is the Originals chart, although that’s about to change.
Disney+ debuted The Acolyte, the latest Star Wars program, on June 4th, just past the cutoff date for this week’s chart.
(L-R): Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett) and Tasi Lowa (Thara Schöön) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Also, The Bear season three released its entire set of episodes on June 26th, and yes, I’ve already watched them all.
Disney published details on the first four days of its release. This data suggests that the show has grown in popularity.
Photo: FX
Since The Bear was already charting last summer for season two – and earlier in 2024 as well – its charting appears to be a foregone conclusion.
Disney indicates that the audience has expanded by 24 percent, which is what happens when a series wins every acting award on the planet.
Image: The Wall Street Journal
Still, we don’t have to wait and see what happens next on the Originals chart, as Hulu claimed a spot on the list.
For the second consecutive week, Under the Bridge charted.
Photo: Hulu
The series garnered 345 million viewer minutes this time, good enough for seventh place.
That’s substantially more than the 220 million viewer minutes the previous week, which isn’t a shocker.
Photo: Hulu
The latest chart includes the final episode of the miniseries, which added to the intrigue.
On the Acquired chart, Disney has a claim to one other program, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which streams on Hulu, Peacock, and Netflix.
Photo: Disney+
For the week in question, L&O: SVU had 540 million viewer minutes.
Disney’s Most Watched Streaming Films
Photo: Disney
Then, we have Moana, which soared to fourth on the Movies chart this week. That’s a bit misleading, though.
The beloved film claimed its usual 295 million viewer minutes. It’s just that people weren’t watching many movies on streaming that week.
Photo: Disney
So, Moana surged, while another Disney product earned a spot at the bottom of the top ten.
Did you know that Disney released an Omen movie this year? It’s true. Disney owns The Omen franchise after the Fox purchase.
Photo: The New York Post
Earlier in 2024, The First Omen debuted in theaters, earning a modest $54 million against a $30 million budget. That’s…not great.
Well, people at least cared enough to watch The First Omen on Hulu. It charted in tenth with 182 million viewer minutes.
Photographer: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
Ordinarily, that total isn’t enough to make the Nielsen charts but as I said, it was sloooow week on the Movies list.
Still, this was a good week overall for Disney streaming programs.
Photo: Hulu
Disney+ and Hulu titles held down nine of the 30 spots and, more importantly, half the overall top ten.
Disney’s streaming strategy definitely appears to be working.
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
