Time to Grow Up, Disney+ and Hulu: Content Cuts Coming as Part of Streaming’s ‘Maturation Process’

variety.com:

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Disney is going on a diet — but Hulu is still on the menu. Disney CEO Bob Iger and chief financial officer Christine McCarthy delivered a clear message on Wednesday to Wall Street and to Hollywood during Disney’s quarterly earnings call.

Disney will cut the overall volume of content produced for its streaming platforms — primarily Disney+ and Hulu — as it deals with a much tighter macroeconomic environment, not to mention the uncertain impact of the writers strike that began May 2.

After spending just under $30 billion on content in Disney’s 2022 fiscal year (which ends in September), Iger has targeted $3 billion in savings for 2023.

Of that $30 billion, about 30% is devoted to sports rights for ESPN and ABC Sports. “We are in the process of reviewing the content on our (direct-to-consumer) services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation,” McCarthy said. “Going forward, we intend to produce lower volumes of content in alignment with this strategic shift.” Disney will trim the volume of new content that it produces for 2024 and 2025.