Release date: August 28, 2024
Disney shuts down multiple streaming apps
MovieguideĀ® Contributor
Disney has announced that it will shut down several of its associated streaming apps in order to drive more customers to Disney+ and Hulu.
The five streaming apps are being discontinued, but much of their content will be available on other Disney-owned streaming sites: ABC, DisneyNOW, Freeform, FXNow and Nat Geo TV will no longer be available on smart TVs or mobile devices after September 23. However, content from those apps will still be available to watch on desktop, and much of the content will move to Disney+ or Hulu.
The change will heavily impact consumers who pay for cable TV but don't currently subscribe to Disney+ or Hulu, taking away their ability to stream these channels as part of their cable TV package.
The decision comes as Disney is stepping up its streaming efforts and trying to drive more subscribers to its two premium services.
Many other established media companies have made similar changes this year, dropping support for smaller platforms in favor of larger ones. Warner Bros. Discovery, for example, recently said it was disbanding its Cartoon Network-centered streaming service, Boomerang, though much of its content will soon be available on Max.
Paramount took a similar step this summer, shutting down its Nickelodeon-based streaming platform Noggin, as well as its Comedy Central and MTV streaming sites, before reintegrating all three into Paramount+.
These changes allow studios to cut costs while growing subscriber numbers for the major services, both of which are attractive to Wall Street. Though they may be annoying to some consumers, it is only through these methods that streaming services can earn stable profits. The breakup of these services represents the first stage in a streaming industry that has contracted after years of growth, leading to the current unsustainable environment.
MovieguideĀ® previously reported:
For the first time, YouTube accounts for 10% of all TV viewing, and its impact on the industry is especially noticeable in kids' content, where traditional streamers are beginning to retreat.
YouTube's dominance in the streaming industry is undeniable. Until recently, the public might not have thought of YouTube in the same breath as Netflix, but YouTube has led streaming TV viewership for nearly two years in a row. That dominance is starting to put pressure on competitors, especially among YouTube's most popular demographic: kids.
In the past year, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon's independent streaming platforms, Boomerang and Noggin, respectively, have been shut down. These were two giants in the kids' content space, but they have been unable to compete with the dominance YouTube has gained with this key audience.
Thus, Boomerang was dissolved, with its content folded into Warner Bros. Discovery's Max; Noggin, meanwhile, is in the process of shutting down, with most of its content already available on Paramount+. Even Disney's kids' content has struggled to attract the viewers it needs, so the company is incorporating more adult content into Disney+ and offering some shows originally made for Hulu to provide value to older viewers.