Two steamers under the Disney umbrella saw a significant jump in subscription cancellations after the company suspended Jimmy Kimmel, a report from a streaming analysis firm found Monday.
Cancellation rates for Disney+ and Hulu doubled from August to September, according to Antenna, a firm that tracks subscription data for major streaming services. At Disney+, that rate went from 4% to 8%, and at Hulu, it went from 5% to 10%. Throughout the past year, both streamers’ so-called “churn” rates have hovered around the lower figures.
That amounts to about three million Americans canceling Disney+ and 4.1 million canceling Hulu in September. But even though the cancellation rate went up, both gained millions of new subscribers in September, the report noted.
Churn rates at other major streamers tracked by Antenna all stayed within their normal range for the past year.
The uptick in cancellations coincides with Disney announcing it was suspending Kimmel after he made comments on his late night show calling out conservatives’ response to Charlie Kirk’s death. The decision was widely criticized as Disney caving to President Donald Trump, whose administration threatened regulatory action over Kimmel’s remarks.
