Disney says about 157 million global users are streaming content with ads

Disney said Wednesday it has an estimated 157 million global monthly active users watching ad-supported content across its streaming platforms — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.

That number includes 112 million users domestically and is an average per month over the last six months.

While traditional TV outlets have a standard way of measuring ratings and viewership, there is still no industry standard methodology for measuring global streaming advertising audience size.

The company said that its Disney Advertising unit has “set out to define a globally consistent approach and methodology to estimate ad-supported audience numbers.â€� Itâ€s providing the update and further insight into its ad-supported streaming business during the annual CES tech conference in Las Vegas, a go-to event for the advertising and media industry.

“Disney sits at the intersection of world class sports and entertainment content, with the most high-value audiences in ad-supported global streaming at scale,â€� said Rita Ferro, Disneyâ€s president of global advertising, in a news release. “We wanted to be the first to offer our industry greater transparency into the methodology used to estimate our engaged global ad-supported monthly active users.â€�

In explaining the methodology, the company said the metric is derived from active accounts across Disneyâ€s three streaming services that have viewed ad-supported shows and movies continuously for more than 10 seconds. “Each active account is then multiplied by the number of estimated users per account … to estimate the total number of users,â€� it said. The estimated active users are added across the apps without de-duplication, meaning users who subscribe to more than one of the platforms could be counted more than once.

Media companies have become particularly focused on generating profits from their streaming businesses, and advertising has become a key way to do that. While many platforms were initially subscription services without commercials, streaming platforms in recent years have introduced cheaper, ad-supported tiers for consumers.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has said that the company is trying to steer its customers toward its ad-supported tiers. The company has raised prices on commercial-free options since launching Disney+ with ads in late 2022.

Disneyâ€s Hulu was one of the first streaming platforms to offer an ad-supported option. More recently, Disney+ introduced an ad-supported tier.

In November, Disney said it had 122.7 million Disney+ Core subscribers, which excludes Disney+ Hotstar in India and other countries in the region. Hulu had 52 million subscribers, while ESPN+ had 25.6 million paid subscribers.

The company historically hasnâ€t reported exactly how many subscribers on each platform pay for the ad-supported option, but executives in the earnings call in November said more than half of new U.S. Disney+ subscribers were choosing the cheaper, ad-supported tier, adding this “bodes well for the future.â€�

Disney noted during the call that average revenue per user for domestic Disney+ customers dropped from $7.74 to $7.70, due to a higher mix of customers on its cheaper, ad-supported tier and wholesale offerings. 

Executives also said in November that they were confident streaming would “be a significant growth area� for the company.

At the time, the company reported that its combined streaming business, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, posted operating income of $321 million for the September period compared with a loss of $387 million during the same period the year prior.

Disney will report its fiscal first-quarter earnings on Feb. 5 before the bell.