Media giant The Walt Disney Company DIS has one of the most popular streaming platforms with Disney+, which had 112.6 million subscribers in the fourth quarter.
New content catered to kids and teenagers could help keep the streaming platform strong heading into 2024.
What Happened: While there are calls for subscribers to cancel their Disney+ and Hulu memberships due to a battle between Disney CEO Bob Iger and billionaire Elon Musk, families with young kids are likely keeping their Disney+ membership.
On Dec. 19, the first two episodes of the reboot of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" hit Disney+. The premiere episode also streamed on Hulu, which is majority owned by Disney.
Set for eight episodes, with new episodes released weekly, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" is based on the book series from Rick Riordan that was first published in 2005.
In its first six days of availability on Hulu and Disney+, the premiere episode had 13.3 million viewers, according to Disney data shared with Variety.
As of now, six books have been published in the Percy Jackson series, with the release of a seventh book scheduled for 2024. The series was previously turned into two big screen movies in 2010 and 2013.
Released in 2010, "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" grossed $88.8 million domestically and $226.5 million worldwide. The movie had an opening weekend total of $31.2 million and had a $95.0 million budget.
A sequel based on the second book called "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" grossed $68.6 million domestically and $200.0 million worldwide with a $90.0 million budget.
With its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Disney received control of the film rights to the book series. The company started working on the series in 2020.
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Why It's Important: The 13.3 million viewers makes the Percy Jackson series one of the top five season premieres for 2023 on Disney+ or Hulu.
Disney does not break out data for all its series, but previously shared that the premiere of "Ahsoka" had 14 million viewers in its first five days of viewing and the season 2 premiere of "Loki" had 10.9 million viewers in three days.
The strong viewership for the new Percy Jackson series complements Disney's library of content and new originals based on franchises from the Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars brands that have strengthened Disney+.
The streaming platform gained seven million subscribers in the fourth quarter, with Disney citing the additions of "Elemental," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and "Ahsoka" among the reasons for the growth in subscribers.
The strength of Percy Jackson could help Disney+ in the subscriber department, with new episodes being released into January. There are several Star Wars series coming to Disney+ later in 2024 as well.
The extensive library of Pixar content, along with the potential addition of the Percy Jackson series and other young adult series targeting older kids, strongly positions Disney+ as a leading streaming platform for children’s entertainment.
Disney+ is also the streaming home in the U.S. and other territories for the hit animated series "Bluey," an Australian series that premiered in 2018. Season one of the hit show premiered on Disney+ in 2020.
In 2023, the series ‘Bluey’ captivated both kids and adults with its dual-audience humor, becoming the most-watched series of the year for the 2 to 11 age group, as reported by Variety.
Data from Nielsen shared by Deadline also saw "Bluey" as the number one series across all streaming platforms by minutes, with 918 million viewing minutes for the week of Nov. 6 to Nov. 12. The animated series has ranked among the top 10 for many weeks in 2023 and recently passed "Suits," which has been a strong performer for Netflix.
New "Bluey" episodes are scheduled to hit Disney+ on Jan. 12, 2024.
With Percy Jackson and Bluey, Disney+ could be one of the streaming platforms that is a must-have for many parents.
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