Reporter Marisa Kabas, founder of The Handbasket, posted on Bluesky today that more than 1.7 million subscribers canceled their paid Disney streaming plans between September 17 and September 23. 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. We’ve reached out to Disney+ for comment on this claim.
Disney also chose to increase subscription prices last week, which could prolong the wave of cancellations. Kabas’ source also claimed that Disney sped the return of the late night show because it had planned to announce the price hike last Tuesday.
In case you need a reminder of the entertainment news that dominated headlines for the past two weeks, Disney-owned ABC suspended the late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live on September 17 after President Donald Trump and members of his administration accused the host of making inappropriate comments regarding the assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk. Although Disney then announced on September 22 that the program would be reinstated the following night, it seems a lot of viewers were not impressed with the company’s actions.