Here Are Disney’s Streaming Highlights Straight from the Boss
Bob Iger has retired from The Walt Disney Company and moved on to his next venture.
For Disney fans, his impact will be felt for many years to come, though.
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During Iger’s first tenure as Disney CEO, he pushed for the creation of Disney+.
Then, during his return in the 2020s, Iger secured the company’s digital future.
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With Josh D’Amaro now in charge, he has suggested that Disney+ will anchor the business.
D’Amaro envisions a OneDisney app where fans do everything Disney-related.
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That hub will be Disney+, which means the future is now.
Let’s discuss Disney’s streaming highlights straight from the boss.
D’Amaro Names the Hits
Disney’s new CEO just published his first earnings report, which you can read here. D’Amaro used this opportunity to explain his goals to potential investors.
He was as transparent as I’ve ever seen an executive for a Fortune 50 company be. The executive took a calculated gamble that Wall Street would respond positively to such clarity.
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Since D’Amaro lived through the drama of the early 2020s, he knows the deal. Investors soured on Disney because its streaming services weren’t profitable.
Even after Iger reversed Disney+’s fortunes, it still didn’t make much money.
Wall Street obsesses about return on investment, and Disney’s streaming has been sluggish.
Photo: Disney
When a corporation spends this much money on a project, it needs to generate massive revenue.
Thus far, the Disney Bundle hasn’t done that, and D’Amaro knows it.
Photo: Disney
During his first earnings report and earnings call, he addressed those concerns.
As a part of his discussion, he explicitly listed Disney’s best streaming performers.
What Are Disney’s Current Hits?
As a point of clarification, Wall Street knows all the biggies on Disney+ and Hulu.
So, D’Amaro had no need to hype Bluey, Grey’s Anatomy, or Seth MacFarlane’s shows. Analysts know those are hits. Rather than rehashing them, D’Amaro focused on new content.
Notably, the executive didn’t overlook international content, either.
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D’Amaro recognizes the lucrative potential of monetizing Disney’s global consumers.
He explicitly shouted out several Disney+ programs you may not know.
Photo: Getty Images/Ringer illustration
Are you familiar with Rivals? It’s an English series starring David Tennant.
The buzzy series earned numerous awards, which you can read on its Wikipedia page. Season two begins this Saturday, and D’Amaro is obviously bullish about its viewership.
He also mentioned a weird South Korean reality competition called Battle of Fates.
Families Streaming Disney+
This one pits 49 tarot readers, shamans, and such in a struggle to prove their superiority.
One of them will show that they can predict the future better than their peers.
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Yes, people watch this stuff. And if you’re a fan of Love Island or Love Is Blind, you shouldn’t judge.
Disney+ and Hulu have had shocking success with their K-Dramas.
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Battle of Fates is a different kind of content, but it could catch on with American viewers.
These are the big swings D’Amaro intends to take as Disney CEO.
Photo: Mark Abramson for The New York Times
As a reminder, he’s really just signing off on Dana Walden’s projects, though. My understanding is that Walden is effectively autonomous as Disney’s President.
D’Amaro has never managed this sort of content creation. So, he’s trusting Walden, the Chief Creative Officer, to anticipate hits.
L: Dana Walden, R: Josh D’Amaro Photo: Disney
Disney’s American Hits
The Nielsen Streaming Ratings only track American viewership. So, if international content breaks out, we’ll only know it when the programs chart.
Otherwise, we’re reliant on Disney to tell us when something becomes a hit.
Photo: English Jargon
In some instances, Nielsen doesn’t track viewership correctly, either. A recent example is Love Story, the John F. Kennedy romance.
For whatever reason, this show never registered on the Nielsen charts.
Photo: FX
However, Disney trumpeted its success almost immediately after its release.
Now, D’Amaro has once again mentioned it as one of Disney’s biggest recent streaming hits.
‘Paradise’ Sign
He also lists Paradise season two, which I discussed the other day.
Two other sizable hits are Predator: Badlands and Hannah Montana’s 20th Anniversary.
Photo: 20th Century Studios
None of these titles should surprise you, as they sound like shows people would watch. Still, D’Amaro’s aggressive hype of each one got my attention.
He’s clearly confident in how the streaming part of the Disney Flywheel is working.
He should be, because Disney+ has other hit titles coming soon.
Photo: Pixar
D’Amaro mentions Hoppers, Avatar: Fire & Ash, and the final season of The Bear.
Disney+ recently surprised fans with a prequel episode of The Bear called “Gary.”
Photo: Hulu
These are the kinds of daring, buzzworthy attempts that should guarantee the streamer’s success.
All in all, I saw nothing but good news about the Disney Bundle in the latest earnings report.
Disney’s Weekly Hits
Here are Disney’s streaming hits for the week of April 6th through April 12th. As usual, the source is the Nielsen Streaming Ratings.
According to Nielsen, here are Disney’s current hit titles:
- Bluey – 873 million viewer minutes
- Grey’s Anatomy – 806 million viewer minutes
- Family Guy – 605 million viewer minutes
- Bob’s Burgers – 580 million viewer minutes
- The Rookie – 513 million viewer minutes
- Criminal Minds – 506 million viewer minutes
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – 504 million viewer minutes
- Zootopia 2: 311 million viewer minutes
Overall, this week’s ratings look quite similar to last week’s.
Bingo, Bluey, and Dad cheer as Dad guesses the toy Muffin wants for her birthday.
The big news is that Paradise dropped off the charts after its season ended.
In a perfect world, Disney would have preferred this one to have a bit more staying power.
Photo: Hulu
Based on the data I’ve seen, I think the explanation is simple, though. Fans of the show watched the season finale as soon as they could.
The bigger concern here is that Daredevil: Born Again season two is well underway. The season premiered on March 24th, making it 0 for 3 on Nielsen appearances.
Photo: Marvel
None of the first season charted, either, which is unfortunate because it’s an excellent show.
Disney+ has already greenlit the third season. So, we’re getting more of it anyway.
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Feature photo: Disney+
