Disney+ and Hulu Cancellations Increased Due to Brief Removal of Jimmy Kimmel

Disney+ and Hulu saw an increase in cancellations when ABC briefly pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air, according to data from subscription analytics company Antenna.

In September, after ABC faced backlash over Jimmy Kimmel’s comments regarding conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the show was temporarily removed. This move led to an estimated 4.1 million cancellations for Hulu and 3 million for Disney+.

The churn rate, which is the percentage of customers who cancel their subscriptions in a given month, doubled from 5% in August to 10% in September for Hulu. For Disney+, it rose from 4% to 8% during the same period.

Despite the increase in cancellations, both Hulu and Disney+ also saw higher sign-ups in September compared to the previous five months.

Antenna, a subscription analytics company that tracks US consumer data, provided these insights, excluding subscribers in bundle deals.

As of the most recent earnings report ending in June, Disney reported a total of 183 million subscriptions between Disney+ and Hulu.

Disney declined to provide further comment on the matter.