The current era at Disney+ has officially come to an end as Disney's new regime, led by CEO Josh D'Amaro and president Dana Walden, has brought some changes with it regarding executive positions. Since its inception in 2019, Disney+ has largely focused on family-friendly streaming content. However, more recently, Disney+ has added more mature projects to its library, especially after combining Hulu with the House of Mouse's streaming service.
Disney recently appointed Debra OConnell as Chairman of Disney Entertainment Television. OConnell officially named her direct reports as Craig Erwich, Ayo Davis, and Courteney Monroe. Specifically, OConnell will be overseeing ABC Entertainment, Disney Branded Television, Hulu Originals, National Geographic Content, and creative for 20th Television and 20th Television Animation. She will also continue to manage ABC News and the ABC Owned Television Stations.
Notably, Craig Erwich, one of OConnell's direct reports, will remain at the head of ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals. He will also remain in adult programming.
Most notably, it seems as though these new promotions will directly affect Disney+ content in the future. As mentioned, Disney+ started as a Disney brand and focused a lot on producing and creating family-friendly projects.
A lot of focus now seems to be aimed toward more adult programming, meaning it could be less likely that those family-friendly shows will be greenlit or go into development. Of course, Disney and Disney+ will still be the home of projects that can be enjoyed by children or the entire family, but they could become less frequent.
For example, shows like Turner & Hooch, Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., The Santa Clauses, American Born Chinese, etc. may not even be greenlit if they were pitched to Disney under this new regime. It seems as though Disney sees more value in more adult programming and more mature stories than it did in previous years.
While that may seem odd, as Disney is a family-first company, the data backs up those decisions. Family-friendly shows like the ones mentioned above weren't necessarily groundbreaking, and didn't set any streaming records for the House of Mouse.
So, Disney+ subscribers shouldn't be surprised if the platform looks a bit different in the coming years. Obviously, new CEO Josh D'Amaro and president Dana Walden see a lot of value in branching out and putting more focus on Disney+ projects with adults as the target demographic.
However, it is also worth mentioning that there likely won't be much of a change to Disney+'s core branches such as Star Wars and Marvel. Those franchises will most likely continue to operate as they have, and will probably keep their planned slates, even if those slates are internal and have not yet been revealed to the public.
So, that doesn't mean shows like Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man or any of the animated Star Wars series that are more kid-friendly will be cancelled. Disney likely also won't be cancelling titles like Spidey and His Amazing Friends, since it has been a massive success for the streamer.
In short, Disney+'s future will seemingly be more data-driven than in the past, and the greenlighting process will probably be stricter. Previously, Disney seemed to experiment with a lot of titles to see how they would perform, and since a lot of those family-friendly shows didn't perform so well in terms of viewership, Disney likely doesn't see much value in pouring resources into that genre.
It is also worth mentioning that Disney officially announced that Joe Earley and Adam Smith will become co-presidents of Direct to Consumer. This means that they will collectively share responsibility for strategy and financial performance across Disney+ and Hulu.
Smith is the former Google/YouTube chief product officer and has no previous ties to the Disney brand. So, the fact that he was promoted to such a high position without working his way all the way up the Disney ladder indicates that the D'Amaro/Walden regime will follow a different strategy than the previous CEO, Bob Iger.
This change in strategy is reinforced by the fact that Disney severed its massive, $1 billion deal with OpenAI, which is a deal that was made while Iger was still at the helm.
The backbone of that deal would have allowed OpenAI to use some Disney characters legally, and, in return, would have resulted in AI content on Disney+. Now that the deal has fallen through, it seems as though D'Amaro and Walden are making a statement that Disney will not be fully supporting the use of AI content on its streaming platform, which many fans will appreciate.
So, it seems as though D'Amaro and Walden have a different vision for the direction of Disney than Iger did, and they are already working to bring their vision to life, even if it means making some major changes on the front end. The pair just recently sat in their new desks for the first time, and have already shaken up the Disney ladder in a major way.
What Will Disney+ Look Like in Seven Years?
It has been seven years since Disney+ launched, and the platform already looks incredibly different from how it was in 2019 when fans opened the service for the first time and saw projects like The Mandalorian and titles that were exclusive to Disney.
Since then, Disney has acquired a lot of other studios, streamers, and the rights to outside projects. For example, Hulu still has its own platform, but fans can also get all of Hulu's content on Disney+.
In another seven years, Disney+ could look even more different. The streamer likely will appear more like Netflix or HBO Max, with most of its content adult-focused instead of made for families or children.
All of the core franchises and brands will still be there and will be doing their own thing. However, the standalone projects and the original content from outside the popular brands won't feel the way they did four, five, or even six years ago.
This could be good or bad, depending on how subscribers look at it. However, as Disney has always done, it will pivot if needed, and will continue to adapt to make sure its subscriber base is satisfied and willing to spend money.
