Disney has announced a major milestone in its streaming business, revealing that its platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, have attracted 157 million active users watching ad-supported content globally.
This number, which includes 112 million users in the US, represents the average monthly viewership over the past six months.
Disney Announces 157 Million Ad-Supported Streaming Users at CES 2025
This announcement was made during Disney's participation in the annual CES tech conference, a key event for the advertising and media industries.
It underscores the growing importance of ad-supported streaming, which has become a significant part of Disney's strategy to generate revenue from its streaming platforms.
Disney has shared its methodology for calculating these numbers. The company explained that the 157 million users include accounts across its streaming services that have viewed ad-supported content for more than 10 seconds.
According to Adweek, each active account is then multiplied by an estimate of how many people share that account, with the global average being 2.6 users per account.
This data is aggregated across all of Disney's streaming platforms without deduplication, meaning users who subscribe to multiple platforms are counted more than once.
This report comes at a time when many streaming companies, including Disney, are shifting focus to ad-supported tiers. For several years, these platforms were subscription-based, offering a commercial-free experience.
However, in recent years, platforms like Disney have introduced lower-cost ad-supported tiers to attract a wider audience while maintaining a steady revenue stream.
Disney+ and Hulu's Ad-Supported Plans Gain Popularity, Driving Revenue Growth
Disney CEO Bob Iger has been vocal about the company's efforts to push customers towards its ad-supported plans.
The introduction of such options on Disney+ and Hulu has proven successful, with Disney reporting that more than half of new US Disney+ subscribers have opted for the cheaper, ad-supported option.
In terms of financial performance, Disney's ad-supported streaming platforms have shown growth.
In November, the company reported that its streaming business, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, posted operating income of $321 million, compared to a loss of $387 million during the same period the previous year, CNBC said.
This growth signals a promising future for the company's streaming efforts.
Although Disney's ad-supported tier is performing well, it is still trailing behind competitors such as Amazon and Netflix.
While Disney's global monthly active users total 157 million, Netflix's ad-supported tier reached 70 million last year, and Amazon's ad-supported Prime Video has over 275 million monthly users in the US alone.
