Disney+ EMEA boss Karl Holmes has made the case for the streamer being the platform of choice for young adults in the UK.
The executive unveiled data from UK ratings agency Barb that found almost 40% of viewing hours on the Disney+ platform are from 16-34 year olds, which was ahead of Netflix (32%), Prime Video (27%) and Paramount+ (23%).
“Disney+ now appeals to adults as much as kids,” Holmes told the Enders TMT Leaders Live Conference. “But it’s important to stress that our grown-up audience is emphatically young. The young adult audience is one we know and understand well, and has an incredibly strong affinity for the franchises and content at the heart of Disney+.”
Holmes pointed to the success of shows like its biggest UK original, Rivals. Upcoming, there is Jemaine Clement-starring show Alice & Steve and an Oasis documentary. Rivals Season 2, which drops its latest tranche of eps tomorrow, he said, is “already bigger than the first.”
Holmes reiterated previously made commitments from new international content boss Angela Jain that Disney+ will now spend more on local originals across scripted and unscripted
“Starting now, Disney+ customers will start to see a greater frequency of shows from their home market,” he added. “We are increasing the number of local Originals.”
He also pressed home the point that box office success can equate to success on streaming.
The “extraordinary success” of Zooptrolis 2, he explained, pushed the franchise to more than 1 billion hours viewed on Disney+. Even an older movie, Home Alone, landed 250,000 views in EMEA on Disney+ last Christmas. “Not bad for a movie that’s 35 years old,” he added.
Holmes was speaking at the Enders Conference before Netflix EMEA chief Larry Tanz and House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal.
