The share of kids content on Disney+ has fallen every year since it launched — and the trend is likely to continue
Disney+ added this month mature Marvel shows that originated on Netflix, like "Daredevil," and updated its parental controls.
ABC Signature / Netflix
- The share of children's content on Disney+ has fallen every year since the service launched.
- The trend is likely to continue, given the share of children's content commissioned by Disney+ recently.
- This month, Disney+ added mature Marvel shows like "Daredevil" and updated its parental controls.
Disney+ is steadily expanding its content library beyond children's programming, new data shows.
The share of kids content on Disney+ has decreased every year since the service launched in late 2019. It still accounts for the majority of content, but the trend is likely to continue as Disney broadens its offering.
When Disney+ debuted in late 2019, 70% of its catalogue could be classified as "children's content," according to the data firm Ampere Analysis. Here's the approximate share of kids content in the years since:
- 2020: 66%
- 2021: 64%
- 2022 to date: 63%
Disney+'s share of children's commissions, or content it has ordered that isn't available yet, has also fallen since 2020. Below is the share of Disney+ children's content commissions every year since it launched.
- 2019: 34%
- 2020: 39%
- 2021: 18%
- 2022 to date: 15%
Disney+ was initially touted as Disney's family-friendly service, while its other streaming platforms — Hulu in the US and Hotstar in international markets — served as general-entertainment products. The strategy has worked, as Disney+ ended 2021 with 130 million global subscribers.
But that hasn't been without quarters of slower-than-anticipated growth. As with any streaming service, Disney+ will have to expand its appeal to sustain growth.
Under Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who succeeded Bob Iger in early 2020, the service has slowly but surely aimed to expand its content offerings, including international content and unscripted programming. And it recently made a move into mature content.
Disney+ added Marvel shows like "Daredevil" and "Luke Cage" that originated on Netflix, but moved this month after the rights reverted back to Disney.
The shows are more mature than anything else on the service including the Marvel Studios-produced Disney+ originals. Along with the shows, Disney+ released new parental-control settings that subscribers would have to update in order to access the full content library.
On the Disney+ app, a prompt for the new settings promised, "More thrills. More drama. More for every mood" — a departure from the initial perception of the service, and a sign of its future if the trend Ampere Analysis found continues.