Walt Disney Company (DIS.US) is gearing up for the launch of its streaming service? Claims that approximately 157 million users worldwide are currently watching ad-supported content.

The Walt Disney Company (DIS.US) said on Wednesday that it expects 157 million active users worldwide to watch ad-supported content on its streaming platforms every month, including Walt Disney Company+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Of these, 112 million are domestic users in the United States. While traditional television media has standard methods to measure viewership and audience size, there is currently no industry standard method to measure the global streaming ad audience. At the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the company provided the latest information and insights on its ad-supported streaming business, stating that its Walt Disney Company advertising department has begun "developing a globally consistent methodology to estimate the number of ad-supported viewers." Rita Ferro, Global President of Advertising for Walt Disney Company, said in a press release, "Walt Disney Company sits at the intersection of world-class sports and entertainment content, possessing the most valuable audience in global ad-supported streaming." "We aim to be the first to offer our industry a method for estimating monthly active users for global ad-supported streaming with greater transparency." Explaining the calculation method, the company stated that the metric comes from active accounts on Walt Disney Company's three major streaming services watching ad-supported programs and movies for over 10 seconds continuously. The company stated, "Each active account is then multiplied by the estimated number of users per account... to estimate the total number of users." Estimated active users are added across applications, not deduplicated, meaning users subscribing to multiple platforms can be counted multiple times. Advertising-supported level growth Media companies are particularly focused on the profitability of their streaming businesses, with ads becoming a key way to achieve this goal. While many platforms initially offered subscription services without commercial ads, streaming platforms have begun introducing more affordable ad-supported services for consumers. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger stated that the company is trying to guide customers to ad-supported tiers. Since launching ad-supported Walt Disney Company+ at the end of 2022, the company has raised prices for the ad-free option. Hulu, owned by Walt Disney Company, was one of the first streaming platforms to offer ad-supported options. Recently, Disney+ also introduced another ad-supported tier option. In November of last year, Walt Disney Company reported 122.7 million Disney+ core users, not including Disney+ Hotstar users in India and other countries in the region. Hulu has 52 million users, while ESPN+ has 25.6 million paying users. The company has not disclosed how many subscribers on each platform pay for the ad-supported option, but executives stated during a November earnings call that over half of new Disney+ subscribers in the U.S. chose the cheaper ad-supported option, indicating "promising signs for the future." During the earnings call, Walt Disney Company noted that the average revenue per user for domestic Disney+ customers decreased from $7.74 to $7.70 due to higher proportions of cheaper, ad-supported levels and wholesale products. Executives also stated in November that they believe streaming will be "a significant growth area" for the company. In the fourth quarter report, the company reported an operating income of $321 million for its combined streaming business (including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+), compared to a loss of $387 million in the same period last year. Walt Disney Company is set to release its first quarter earnings on February 5th before the U.S. stock market opens.