ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! may have caused Disney+ and Hulu cancellations to rise, new data shows.
According to subscriptions analytics firm Antenna, the monthly churn rate for Disney+ went from four percent in August to eight percent in September, the same month in which ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air for a week following Kimmel’s monologue about far-right commentator Charlie Kirk’s killer. The churn rate for Hulu, which is also owned by Disney, increased from five percent in August to 10 percent in September.
Kimmel’s suspension led for calls to boycott Disney and its streaming services, with celebrities like Tatiana Maslany and Cynthia Nixon joining in. Disney reportedly lost over 1.7 million subscribers across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN between the announcement of Kimmel’s suspension and his return to air.
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The discrepancy between months is undeniably notable, as subscriber churn tends to remain fairly consistent from month-to-month. However, a Disney source speaking with The Hollywood Reporter noted that Antenna’s numbers appear higher than Disney’s internal data, and that it is unclear how Antenna measures subscription plan upgrades and downgrades as part of subscriber churn.
Kimmel’s suspension also wasn’t the only Disney-related controversy that might have caused Disney+ users to rethink their subscriptions. Right after Disney announced that Kimmel would be returning to air, the company announced price hikes for Disney+ and Hulu. These hikes, which go into effect on Oct. 21, will make Disney+ and Hulu’s ad-supported and most basic ad free tiers the most expensive across the major streaming services.
