It may seem like common sense to believe that due to the rise of the business, streaming services would just keep adding more titles to their libraries over time. As a result, more people would retain their subscriptions as the value of these platforms rose over time. However, Disney is following in the footsteps of Max and axing more titles from Plus and Hulu.
After the removal of movies and shows such as Dollface, Willow, the Mysterious Benedict Society, and Y: The Last Man, Disney expects to cut taxes by as much as $1.5 billion. This number amounts to saving equivalent to the production of multiple Marvel films. Consequently, reports show that Disney is continuously reviewing its library of content on the Disney+ and Hulu platforms and “currently anticipates additional produced content will be removed…largely during the remainder of its third fiscal quarter.”
To help balance expenditures and revenue, companies need to find better ways to reduce backend costs. By shelving content people know and love from an established household name brand, Disney comes across as trying to screw over actors and writers who make much of their living off of residual payments.
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On the most recent earnings call, Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, stated that he was “confident that we’re on the right path for streaming’s long-term profitability” and that his company would try to rationalize “the volume of content we make and what we’re spending.” Going forward, Iger also expressed his belief in the need to raise the monthly subscription cost of the Disney+ service in order to “better reflect the value of our content offerings.”
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This behavior is a growing trend among all the big names in the streaming service business, including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The chance is good that it will soon trickle into Paramount+ and Peacock in the next few years as they attempt to sustain profit in the wake of slowing growth.
