Viewers responded in droves to ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live in September, and not positively.
The politically motivated preemption of the late-night program following host Jimmy Kimmel‘s brief remarks regarding the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk drove a massive wave of Disney+ subscription cancellations, a new report from the research firm Antenna shows, per The New York Times.
Roughly three million Americans canceled their Disney+ subscriptions in September, which represents a near tripling of the previous three-month average of 1.2 million. Slicing the data another way shows a doubling of the subscription cancellation rate, jumping from 4 percent in July and August to 8 percent in September for Disney+, and 5 percent in July and August to 10 percent in September for Hulu.
The momentary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live by ABC, a Disney-owned network, is likely one of the major factors behind the subscriber drop-off.
The network pulled Kimmel’s late night show from the air for six days in September following pressure from the Donald Trump administration, and after affiliate groups Nexstar and Sinclair preempted the show, following a remark the host made about Tyler Robinson, the alleged culprit identified in the Sept. 10 shooting of Kirk.
“We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said in his Sept. 15 monologue, which drew immediate ire from conservative politicians, pundits, and viewers.
But the Kirk commentary isn’t the only potential source of the downward turn. Disney announced price hikes across their streaming plans and bundles in September, set to take effect in October. The data also showed that September marked an increase in new subscribers — up to 2.18 million from 1.99 million in Aug. for Disney+, and up to 2.11 million from 1.97 million in August for Hulu.
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But the reaction to Kimmel’s return to air has been unquestionably positive for ABC.
Kimmel’s return to air on Sept. 23 marked the highest viewership the show had seen in a decade. The episode’s 6.2 million viewers represented four times the show’s average prior to suspension, the biggest tune-in numbers for a regularly scheduled episode since March 12, 2015.
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