Disney+ and Hulu have seen a meteoric increase in cancellation rates, doubling in September alone. The spike was eerily timed, occurring just as late-night host Jimmy Kimmel went on a three-month hiatus. This begs the question: How did his absence impact subscriber retention?
Disney+’s churn rate, which was recently reported to have spiked according to analytics firm Antenna, has the industry abuzz. It increased from a low of 4% to 8%, leading to nearly three million cancellations. At the same time, Hulu’s churn rate soared upwards to 10%, resulting in more than four million cancellations. Hours after Brendan Carr, a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, threatened ABC’s broadcast license, cancellations surged. This outcry was instrumental in the sudden suspension of Kimmel.
Right after Kimmel’s suspension came the outrage. Hundreds of stars and creators of Hollywood soon rallied around him, signing a letter that condemned the decision. Critics from creative guilds, such as the writers’ and actors’ guilds, lawmakers, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have all decried the move as censorship. First, they say it represents an unconstitutional affront to free speech.
Protests broke out across California, where supporters were rallying to protect ABC. In Kimmel’s case, though he was eventually reinstated, the uproar over his suspension is still being felt in the industry.
“desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” – Jimmy Kimmel
We have no way of knowing, even with the heavy outcry, if Kimmel’s temporary absence is to blame for the wave of cancellations. As some observers note, continued frustration over content availability and increasing subscription prices may be playing a role as well.
Such high churn rates are causing alarm bells to go off at Disney. So it’s no surprise that critics are now demanding boycotts of its streaming services. As those cancellations stack up with over seven million combined cancellations across both platforms, the impact on Disney’s streaming strategy could be significant.