MUMBAI:  Guess what’s the  latest AVOD universe that Walt Disney Co’s  Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ operate in? 

Well, you don’t have to guess. 

The numbers and the methodology behind them were shared by  its division Disney Advertising president of global advertising Rita Ferro at the fifth  annual Tech and Data Showcase during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 on 8 January in Las Vegas. 

Ferro  revealed that Disney’s ad-supported streaming portfolio has reached an estimated 157 million global monthly active users (MAUs), including 112 million domestic MAUs (US and Canada), based on an average over the past six months.

“Disney sits at the intersection of world-class sports and entertainment content, with the most high-value audiences in ad-supported global streaming at scale,” said Ferro. “We wanted to be the first to offer our industry greater transparency into the methodology used to estimate our engaged global ad-supported monthly active users.”

She explained that in a landscape where no industry-standard methodology exists for measuring global streaming advertising audiences, Disney Advertising has taken a pioneering step by defining a globally consistent approach. Highlights of the methodology include:
* Audience Definition: Ad-supported MAU  numbers are calculated from active accounts within Disney’s streaming ecosystem (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+) that have engaged with ad-supported content for more than 10 seconds.
* User Multiplication Factor: Each account is multiplied by the estimated number of users per account, with a global average of 2.6 users, adjusted regionally and by platform.
* Survey Data: Estimates are based on first-party survey data representing over 13,000 individuals aged 18–64 in regions offering advertising tiers.

Ferro emphasised Disney’s leadership in leveraging data to drive impactful results for brands. “This step underscores Disney’s commitment to intentional transparency and delivering meaningful outcomes for advertisers,” she added.