Disney has been ahead of projections with the performance of Disney+, but it appears that they may be canabalizing their own audience as a result.

According to What’s On Disney Plus, Disney’s channels like The Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD have seen significant drops in viewership as their target demographic switches to watching their shows on Disney+ or other streaming outlets. I know my kids have been more about watching YouTubers than they are about watching The Disney Channel.

The shift has dropped the Disney Channel 33%, Disney Junior 27% and Disney XD 23%. Nickelodeon has seen their kid focused channels drop too. Kids are just getting their entertainment from other platforms.

It’s been dropping. Two years ago Cartoon Brew had posted Neilson ratings showing the decline:

Cartoon Brew also posted this info graphic showing how the networks are dropping for kids while places like YouTube are going up:

Meanwhile Cocomelon has become one of the top YouTube channels in the world with about 100 million subscribers. This is why Disney keeps trying to hard to appeal to the YouTube and TikTok audiences.

Yes some of the Disney Channels audience has gone to the Disney+ platform, but realistically the audience is moving to other platforms. The decline is giving Disney a hit and it is leading to the Disney channels being shut down in other countries as well:

“And it’s why internationally why so many Disney Channels have been shut down such as in the United Kingdom and Australia.  With more Disney Channel closures coming before the end of the month across Scandinavia and South East Asia.”

Whether it be kids wanting to watch their shows on streaming platforms or them just leaving all together, Disney needs to find a way to stop the hemorrhaging.

Source: What’s On Disney Plus, Cartoon Brew, Cartoon Brew,