Release date: July 19, 2024
Photo by Thibault Penin on Unsplash Disney+ struggles to catch up as YouTube captures younger audiences Movieguide® Contributor
As YouTube continues to grab the attention of younger people, Disney+ is rushing to make changes to keep up.
According to Streamable, “Disney+ isn’t resting on its laurels after a strong first-quarter earnings report. The streaming service plans to be profitable by the end of the year and is pursuing a variety of strategies to grow its audience. It’s already rolling out a ton of Hulu content to customers who subscribe to both services, and it also plans to introduce ESPN sports later this year.”
While all platforms care about subscriber numbers, Disney specifically uses a metric called “hours per subscriber” to understand customer engagement.
Disney wants to increase the amount of time watched per subscriber, and they will work to achieve this goal even if it means introducing addictive technology.
“New features Disney is developing include more personalized algorithms to improve content recommendations, customized promotional art for new shows and movies based on subscribers’ preferences and usage history, and emails to remind viewers who stop watching mid-series to finish, according to people familiar with the matter,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Keeping customers glued to their screens is also the aim of Disney’s new live TV channel.
“The company is developing pop-up live channels aimed at entertaining viewers who don’t have the time or energy to scroll through viewing options, people familiar with the matter said,” the Journal noted, explaining that these channels could play the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, for example, with or without ads.
These changes are likely to occur within the next six months.
But will that be enough for Disney to continue competing with other streaming platforms? While a hit movie like “Inside Out 2” certainly boosts Disney’s brand, young people aren’t necessarily looking for long-form content.
According to the Nielson survey,
“Kids far prefer YouTube’s short-form videos to those they can find on on-demand streamers like Disney+,” The Streamable concludes.
“YouTube maintained its position as the top streaming platform, matching its platform-high share of 9.7% recorded in March 2024,” Nielsen noted. Meanwhile, Disney remained near the bottom of the list with just 1.8%.
Movieguide® previously reported on YouTube’s dominance:
YouTube has maintained its dominance in streaming for more than a year and a half, with other players in the industry viewing it as both a friend and a foe.
Nielsen’s May 2024 TV Usage Report revealed that YouTube accounted for 9.7% of total TV usage that month, comfortably beating second-place Netflix’s 7.6% of TV usage, more than double that of any other platform. This means that it’s been almost a year and a half since Netflix held the crown atop its head.
While YouTube isn’t typically thought of as a streaming service, its dominance in the TV space has put it at odds with traditional media, leading streaming platforms to take YouTube into account when formulating their long-term strategies.
Disney, for example, has used YouTube’s massive audience to promote its own content, especially its kids’ content, posting clips of upcoming shows to generate buzz, and, while it hasn’t done so yet, is considering posting full episodes of its Hulu and Disney+ shows on YouTube to encourage viewers to subscribe to its platforms.
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