While the advertising market continues to struggle, Disney has been able to grow its Upfront advertising by 5%, which covers both linear channels like ABC and streaming services such as Hulu and Disney+.

Each year, the major US studios try to sell their advertising slots in advance of the upcoming Fall/Winter television season, with Disney, among other studios, hosting events in May to try to seduce advertising budgets.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Disney was being very aggressive with its advertising campaigns, undercutting opposition, and while the 5% growth is good news, it’s unclear what discounts Disney advertising negotiators had to do to secure the deals.

Rita Ferro, the company’s ad sales chief, said in a statement to Ad Week:

“Disney’s unrivaled storytelling, paired with our unparalleled ad technology and data capabilities, delivers the outcomes our partners continue to push us on, and we continue to raise the bar.  Our growth in the number of marketers we work with and the increased investments in advertising innovation, demonstrates Disney’s differentiator.”

Apparently, the majority of the growth was from revenue and volume that was largely driven by sports programming and streaming platforms, which both increased by double-digit percentage points in volume.     With 40% of the total upfront dollars that have been committed, have already been earmarked for streaming and digital platforms, which is on par with last year, however, streaming volume has grown by 10% over 2023.   Disney has also been using its new technology to introduce new types of ad formats, like advergames and shoppable integrations.

Disney has been much more focused on increasing the amount of revenue it makes from advertising, especially with Hulu and Disney+, where it’s priced the ad-supported tiers much lower than the ad-free versions, to ensure more people go for the cheaper option, since this generally results in Disney being able to make more money per subscriber from advertising.

Another area that is helping Disney increase its Up-front advertising revenue is the ad-supported version of Disney+, which is slowly rolling out in many regions around the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America.    The ad-supported tier only launched in some countries in Europe late last year, and the ad-supported version in Latin America only recently launched following the merger of Star+ and Disney+.

For Disney, the categories that appeal more to advertisers include international auto, beverages, food, personal care, financial services, healthcare, travel, and restaurants.

Roger’s Take: While the traditional idea of streaming services from a consumer point of view is that it’s an ad-free experience, in reality, to avoid some costs being passed onto subscribers, the costs of running these services need advertising to fund them. The ad-selling team at Disney is one of the most important aspects of the entire platform; if it fails, we will see fewer shows and films on our screens.

What do you think about having ads on Disney+?  Let me know on social media!

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Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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