Disney Cancellations Rose Amid Kimmel Trouble

The Jimmy Kimmel blackout is over, and the fallout is somewhat complicated for ABC parent company Disney.

• On the downside, cancellations of Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions rose significantly in September, coinciding with Kimmel's brief suspension from ABC over his Charlie Kirk comments, per the Hollywood Reporter. The stats are from analytics firm Antenna, which found that cancellations jumped from 4% to 8% for Disney+ and from 5% to 10% for Hulu in a month. In real numbers, that translates to 3 million canceling Disney+, up from a three-month average of 1.2 million; and 4.1 million canceling Hulu, up from 1.9 million, reports the New York Times.
• But on the upside, Disney+ saw 2.2 million new subscribers sign up in September, up 10% from the previous month; and Hulu saw 2.1 million new people, up 5%. The gains helped offset the losses in a big way, notes Variety.

• While Disney+ had maintained a steady cancellation rate of 3% to 4% throughout the year—second only to Netflix's industry-low 2%—the September numbers pushed Disney's streaming service out of its usual position.
• In regard to the cancellations, it remains unclear how many subscribers left because of Kimmel's suspension or because of a scheduled price hike announced around the time.
• An industry insider tells THR that people often quietly return after a protest cancellation anyway.