Jimmy Kimmel’s Fallout Isn’t Over: Disney Struggles Under a Surge of Unexpected Bad News.NH

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Tim Adams is a Movies & TV News Writer at CBR. After writing and talking about pop culture on his personal blog and podcast, Tim joined CBR as a Contributing Writer in 2016. Tim quickly demonstrated himself to be a valuable member of the team, resulting in a promotion to Associate Editor and then Lead News Editor in 2018. Part of his duties included managing and working with freelance writers on news coverage, while also growing the news side of the comics vertical.

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The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel from his late night talk show had a massive impact on Disney+ and Hulu subscribers. Jimmy Kimmel found himself the center of controversy after making comments about the suspect accused of killing right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk during the Sept. 15 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! His comments on the shooter went viral, leading to Disney pulling the plug on his talk show two days later. Jimmy Kimmel Live! was eventually reinstated, but the downtime appears to have severely impacted Disney’s bottom line when it comes to the company’s two streaming services.

Subscription analytics firm Antenna (via THR) released monthly churn rates for Disney+ and Hulu, revealing that both streamers saw an increase in the number of cancellations in September. The churn rates for Disney+ surged from 4 percent in August to 8 percent in September, with Hulu churn rates increasing from 5 percent in August to 10 percent in September.

Jimmy Kimmel Cancellation Impacts Disney+ and Hulu Subscribers

Jimmy Kimmel wearing a tuxedo and standing on the Oscars stage

When compared to their competitors, Disney+ and Hulu saw the greatest increase in churn rate from August to September. Data from Antenna shows that Apple TV+ churn went up from 6 percent to 7 percent; HBO Max increased from 7 percent to 9 percent; and Paramount+ ticked up from 6 percent to 7 percent.

If seeing Jimmy Kimmel pulled off the airways wasn’t bad enough for Disney+ and Hulu subscribers, they’re also getting a price hike. Not long after Jimmy Kimmel was suspended and then reinstated, Disney announced it was raising prices for Disney+ and Hulu in the United States. Those new prices will take effect on Oct. 21.

Jimmy Kimmel joined The Last Show With Stephen Colbert to discuss his suspension, telling Colbert that the days that followed were “an emotional roller coaster” and that he thought, “I’m never coming back on the air.” His return to Jimmy Kimmel Live! brought record-breaking viewership numbers to ABC as 6.26 million traditional-TV viewers tuned in, according to Nielsen.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights on ABC.