Disney's cancelation of Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and Big Shot hint at significant changes for the company's landmark streaming service, Disney+. After the news that Disney CEO Bob Iger thinks Disney responded poorly to its own success, the cancelation of these two Disney+ shows seems especially revealing. Disney+ began as one of the most successful streaming platforms in 2019 when it used The Mandalorian to market its launch and garner millions of initial subscribers.
Disney+'s launch was historical, estimated to have capped 10 million subscribers by the end of its first day of operation. The streaming giant has relied mainly on classic movies and original TV series from its two biggest franchises, Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), to maintain and grow its subscriber base. Despite the astronomical success it has enjoyed in its first few years, Disney+ recently lost subscribers for the first time. Iger's comments come in response to this news, indicating that the show cancelations are part of a larger strategy.
Disney's Two Show Cancelations Hint A Future Series Changes
Disney+'s show cancelations strongly hint at its intent to lean even more heavily on its big franchises and likely emphasize quality over quantity with future original series. After Iger's comments, the new content on Disney+ seems poised to become more narrow and less frequent, but that could allow for more thorough writing and production, thus lifting the quality of the Disney+ platform. This could also hint at more series cancelations as Disney looks toward its big earners to drive interest.
More shows like Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and Big Shot could be facing the ax in the coming months because of this mindset, which is becoming an industry-wide streaming controversy. These types of one-off original series typically have smaller, more targeted audiences. While they can sometimes perform well, Disney seems to think they are not bringing in enough money to justify spending time and resources. Instead, Disney likely wants to rely on proven earners, like Star Wars, with worldwide fan bases to draw subscribers.
Why Disney+ Is Set To Go Through Future Changes
Disney+ is set to go through changes primarily because of its subscriber issues. Disney seems to be following the logic that if it can attract big dedicated fan bases from major franchises and keep them interested with enough quality content, then it can avoid Disney+ losing so many subscribers again. Therefore, Disney is trying to appeal to its most prominent groups of fans as often as possible and with the highest quality content possible so that they will stay invested. Unfortunately, for smaller Disney series and franchises, this means less money for them and a lower likelihood of making it onto peoples' screens.
Disney's logic is sound, but only time will tell if its strategy will work, especially considering the importance of its recent price hikes. Regardless, there will undoubtedly be some major changes at Disney+ soon, and its recent series cancelations are likely only the beginning. Ultimately, these changes are probably good for fans of Star Wars and the MCU because more money will be spent on maintaining and growing those franchises. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for fans of Mighty Ducks: Game Changers or Big Shot because they simply don't attract enough attention.