It’s been a week since Disney+ added its new general entertainment brand “Star” to Disney+ in 17 countries including the UK, Canada and Australia.  This new brand offers mature content such as “Family Guy”, “Deadpool”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and much more.

Disney has previously said this new addition of content was a result of feedback from consumers and this week, Bob Chapek, Disney’s Chief Executive Officer, participated in a question-and-answer session at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference,  spoke about how they’ve changed their strategy for Disney+ to get more mature content:

Over 50% of our global marketplace don’t have kids, our subscribers don’t have kids. And that is the big difference. And so now you can see that sort of, I’m sure we’ll be talking about Star, but you can see where those strategies get born, when 50% of the people in Disney Plus don’t have kids, you really have the opportunity now to think much more broadly about the nature of your content.

Disney+ was an instant global hit and pulled in many more subscribers than they had projected because Disney hadn’t expected as many adults to be subscribed to Disney+.  Bob Chapek explained why their priorities with regards to making content:

The first obviously is no surprise is going to be the original content under our powerhouse, five core brands that go into Disney Plus. That’s obviously priority one.

But the second priority two is really these general entertainment offerings that I mentioned earlier, because of the success that we’ve had with broad appeal beyond just the family households. So that was another one. And again, that was relatively no news. We knew that we had interest in those general entertainment offerings, but didn’t really realize how important they could be towards our overall proposition, if you will.

And then third, because we are in international markets, the importance of local content. So you add those three things together, and all of a sudden, you’re in a position where you’re spending a lot more money than you originally envisioned, but were being rewarded in the marketplace by the number of subs escalating as well.

While many people look at Disney+ as a “babysitting” streaming service with content only for children, the addition of brands like National Geographic plus Marvel and Star Wars, has pulled in a much larger audience than Disney had been expecting.  So the addition of “Star” internationally is a way of keeping those consumers happy and more importantly subscribed.

With Disney+ internationally getting new shows from ABC and FX, along with films from 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, the amount of content aimed at adults is going to continue to grow.

Are you surprised so many Disney+ subscribers are adults?

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

View all posts