Disney paid a heavy financial price after it announced the suspension of ABC late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel earlier this month.
One report Monday estimated some 1.7 million subscribers exited between September 17 and 23, the period in which Kimmel was off air and was left considering his future.
According to reporter Marisa Kabas, the cancellations reached nearly two million subscribers before Kimmel returned.
“Disney saw more than 1.7 million total paid streaming cancelations during the period 9/17-9/23, a Disney source confirms to me,” Kabas wrote on Bluesky. “The total includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN.”
The total allegedly includes subscriptions to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN. That falloff reportedly marked a 436 percent increase over the usual churn rate for the service.
Cringe…
Disney also chose to increase subscription prices last week, which could prolong the wave of cancellations.
Kabas’ source further claimed Disney sped the return of the late night show because it had planned to announce the price hike last Tuesday.
As Breitbart News reported, Disney-owned ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live on September 17 after the host made inappropriate comments regarding the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Although Disney quickly retreated and then announced on September 22 the program would be reinstated the following night, it seems a lot of viewers were not impressed with the company’s actions and voted to take their wallets – and eyeballs – elsewhere.
