Disney‘s streaming outlets collectively reach 164 million monthly active users, up from 157 million at the start of the year, Advertising President Rita Ferro said at the company’s upfront presentation in New York.
“None of this works without scale,” she said of the company’s ad operations. She shouted out the reveal of pricing and other details of the company’s direct-to-consumer ESPN streaming service (as did host Stephen A. Smith later in the presentation), which will further the company’s digital ambitions.
“We set a new gold standard – counting only viewers who are actively engaging with our content,” Ferro noted. “And we look forward to an industry-wide third-party AVOD measurement solution, with consistent metrics across ALL publishers.”
The stat was one of many bits of streaming data circulating this week at the various upfront presentations. Amazon on Monday said Prime Video reaches 130 million ad-supported subscribers in the U.S., but it didn’t say if reach equals engagement. It also said its monthly ad-supported reach is now 300 million viewers “across owned and operated supply and beyond.”
As a component of the streaming effort, the company has launched ad platform Disney Compass. Ferro said it gives advertiser “direct access to first-party data for smarter planning, deeper insights and more precise measurement.” The technical capabilities, she added, are “enabled by direct connections with every major holding company top demand-side platforms, data providers, and advertisers.”
“Why does this matter?” she asked. “It allows us to act faster, understand more, and continuously evolve with our brand partners – keeping up with the new pace of change.”
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