Disney, Hulu churn doubles in September amid Kimmel suspension

Disney and Hulu experienced a sharp rise in U.S. subscription cancellations in September, with both services’ monthly churn rates roughly doubling amid a brief suspension of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and other concurrent factors, according to analytics firm Antenna. Antenna estimated Disney’s churn rate rose to 8 percent in September from 4 percent in August, and Hulu’s rose to 10 percent from 5 percent, while both platforms also added millions of new subscribers during the month.

Antenna’s data shows roughly 2.18 million new Disney signups and 2.11 million new Hulu signups in September, up from about 1.99 million and 1.97 million in August, respectively. The firm estimated cancellation volumes of about 3 million for Disney and 4.1 million for Hulu for the month. Antenna also reported a weighted average churn rate of 7 percent across nine major U.S. premium streaming services for September and noted varying moves at other services, including Apple TV and HBO Max.

The spike in cancellations occurred after ABC announced on September 17 that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be suspended following remarks the host made about an individual charged in the killing of Charlie Kirk. Several large...