In late 2024, Disney+, in an effort to compete with popular "always on" streaming services like Tubi, launched Streams. At the start, Disney+ made a select number of channels available to those paying for its Premium membership tier, including ABC News, Hits & Heroes, and the seasonal tie-in Hallowstream. Hits & Heroes ran through a live, continuous carousel of movies and series from brands like Star Wars and Marvel and enabled users to jump in and out whenever they pleased.
However, as of May, the Hits & Heroes Streams channel is no longer available anywhere on Disney+. No official statement, reason, or explanation has been given by the service. Hits & Heroes wasn't the only casualty either; Disney+ additionally took down the Real Life channel, which looped a variety of content from National Geographic. Remaining channels include ones devoted to The Simpsons, Phineas and Ferb, and Star Wars. A Holiday-themed channel was also briefly accessible in late 2024.
Still, although exact viewership metrics for Streams aren't something that Disney+ appears keen to release, it would seem likely that the streamer ended Hits & Heroes' brief tenure due to underperformance. In hindsight, Disney+ creating a separate channel solely for Star Wars feels like a harbinger of misfortune for Hits & Heroes and its fans.
As it stands, even though almost the entire MCU library can be watched on Disney+ individually, there are no continuous Streams channels designated for the long-running franchise. Hits & Heroes' elimination is sure to dismay the Marvel fans who enjoyed it. After all, there are many streaming subscribers who become overwhelmed at the abundance of offerings that sit before them. Sometimes, it's easier to watch TV in the way that it used to be watched.
Disney+'s Ups and Downs
From its inception, Disney+ was envisioned as a one-stop shop for all things Disney and its subsidiary properties, like National Geographic, Star Wars, and Marvel. Kicking off in the fall of 2019 with an assortment of original programming coupled with the company's vast, near-century-encompassing back catalog, Disney+ was quick to catch on. Moreover, the service became a pandemic-era favorite. With thousands cooped up in their homes, Disney+ was a lifeline for continued sanity.
But for every boom, there is a bust. What goes up must come down, a lesson Disney+ learned the hard way. As the planet began to open back up and populations began to venture out into public life again, the House of Mouse's user base was rocked. Disney+ viewership plummeted, and the platform began losing ground to other names in the game, such as Max. It was around that point that Disney+ started playing more on its own terms. Hit features like Groupwatch were excised, and restrictions on password sharing were tightened to the point of suffocation. These actions prompted consumers to decry them as they applied the label of flagrant anti-consumerism.
Ultimately, Disney+ is a business operated by a multi-billion-dollar corporation. Its shareholders have only one thing on their minds: Revenue. The Walt Disney Company and its ilk desire the impossible dream of infinite growth, an economic fallacy. In other words, Disney wants to make progressively more money, forever. When a wall is hit, another revenue stream will be concocted. And when a Disney+ feature no longer performs in the way it's intended, it gets chopped, even when it stands as a violation of consumer trust. This is the most likely reason that Hits & Heroes is no longer available for streaming.
It may be that Disney+ will add a solo Marvel Streams channel, in the same vein as its In a Galaxy Far, Far Away channel, but no such plans have been made clear to fans as of yet.
