CEO Iger: Disney Adding Adult Content to Streaming App, Beta Test Coming Soon
Fans of the streaming services provided by the House of Mouse could be getting a whole new dose of TV-MA content added to their viewing options very soon.
Speaking at a quarterly earnings call Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the imminent merger of massive streaming platforms Hulu and Disney+ would pave the way for some interesting new content strategy maps.
According to a corporate news release, Iger said Disney remains “on track to roll out a more unified one-app experience domestically, making extensive general entertainment content available to bundle subscribers via Disney+.”
He a beta version for bundle subscribers will launch in December to give “parents time to set up profiles and parental controls that work best for their families ahead of the official launch in early spring 2024.”
Per Deadline, Iger offered no specifics about the programming or how this new hybrid streaming platform would exist — but made it clear that “Boy Meets World” could soon be just a few clicks away from “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
The beta launch is where parents will be able to fully test out the scope of having “Bluey,” a lovable children’s show about a family of anthropomorphic dogs, and “The Bisexual,” a British comedy-drama about sexuality, exist on the same service.
“We are basically putting it in beta so that we can prepare parents, largely, to basically implement parental controls, because you’ll be able to access Hulu programming on the same app,” Iger said.
Where Disney+ is largely viewed as a family-friendly platform, by some at least, Hulu has long dabbled in far more mature content — an obvious potential conflict for many parents.
The current nebulous plan appears to be a robust parental control program for this new streaming platform.
That being said, mature content on Disney+ is hardly a novel concept.
While TV-MA shows and rated-R movies are few and far between on the service, they do exist.
Generally, those programs are going to be related to comic books, with shows like “Daredevil” and “The Punisher” giving dark, gritty and violent takes on standard superhero bombast.
Movies such as “Deadpool” and “Logan” are also comic book-related affairs that are aggressively violent and earn their R-ratings.
But now the platform is going to get a large injection of mature shows and movies thanks to the forced merger with Hulu.
For Disney, this might fly against the squeaky-clean image the company tries to manufacture — but desperate times generally call for desperate measures.
And make no mistake: Disney is desperate.
From abstract issues, such as plummeting fan sentiment, to more concrete evidence, such as global layoffs, the House of Mouse needs a shot of good news in the worst way.
Will more adult content be the salve for what ails it? Bob Iger clearly thinks it’ll help.
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