Disney+ Suffers Drop In Popularity vs. Competing Streaming Services

Disney+ has seen a drop in popularity when compared to other competing streaming services. 

After a nearly two-year period of sustained growth on the platform, Disney (along with the rest of the streaming industry) has hit a bit of a plateau subscriber-wise as of late (via Statista)

This comes as rampant spending in recent years without nearly enough return has made streaming stakeholders reevaluate their strategy, including Disney itself. 

But while other streaming platforms have seemingly weathered some of the storm, going through content purges without taking too much of a hit, the same cannot be said for Disney+. 

Disney+ Losing Popularity

According to new data from JustWatch (via 9to5Mac), Disney+ has suffered a drop in popularity in the United States, making it the fourth-biggest streaming service in the region. 

Disney's streaming platform now has a 13% market share after falling behind the newly relaunched Max service from Warner Bros. 

This comes after four straight months of market share loss from Disney+, making it, and the Disney-owned Hulu, the only two with negative market share momentum headed into the second half of the year. 

Amazon's Prime Video remains at the top of the crop stateside (21%), with Netflix coming up close behind with a 20% market share. 

The full US market share breakdown is as follows:

1. Amazon Prime Video: 21%
2. Netflix: 20%
3. Max: 15%
4. Disney+: 13%
5. Hulu: 11%
6. Paramount +: 7%
7. Apple TV+: 6%
8. Others: 7%

What Is Happening to Disney?

It is fascinating to see this slow and steady decline of market share for Disney+ after the service rode such positive momentum for so long following its 2019 launch. 

The service is currently sitting at 161.8 million subscribers worldwide (via Disney's Q2 2023 Earnings Report). This marked a 1.68% drop from the previous quarter (a drop of about 4 million subscribers), and the second-straight quarter where a loss was suffered. 

This comes amid a bit of a content struggle for Disney and its streamer. Fan-favorite series The Mandalorian, something that was once the killer app on the service, returned for its third season this past March but was met with middling reviews and lackluster reception. 

Even on the blockbuster side of Disney+ things have not been going as planned. While one of the major selling points of the streamer was being the home of Disney's big-screen fare, it is hard to get subscribers excited about said movies (like Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania) when they are also not hitting a head-turning critical mark.

And all this comes as one of Disney's biggest competitors Warner Bros. has prepared and launched its newly rebranded Max service, a streamer that combined the beloved catalog of HBO Max with the massively popular Discovery properties. 

Hopefully, as Disney rejigs its streaming strategy, Disney+ can start to regain some of the momentum it once had.