By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman
TV Answer Man, I heard that Disney is cutting back on the shows it has on Disney Plus. Do you know anything about this? — Mary, Lexington, Kentucky.
Mary, I sure do. I wrote here earlier this month that streaming companies are losing money and they have decided to reverse course. They will no longer add as much programming as possible to entice new subscribers. Instead, they will raise prices and reduce the number of shows they carry.
That may sound crazy. Why would people accept less programming for more money, right?
But this is the current industry consensus. In fact, HBO Max earlier this year removed a significant number of titles from its catalog. And you’ll see every streamer eventually get on the bandwagon. Fewer titles means fewer programming costs. The executives are hoping that the extra subscriber revenue coupled with the programming reductions will be enough to make their services profitable.
It appears to be working for HBO Max (which becomes just Max tomorrow; no, they don’t save money by eliminating the word, HBO, from the title) with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav saying this month that it’s no longer a money ‘bleeder.’
Perhaps inspired by Zaslav’s success, Disney has decided to hack 71 titles from Disney+ and Hulu by the end of the week. The company may later license some of these shows to other services, or it may not. For now, they will just disappear into the ether. So if you want to watch them, you better start now.
Here is the list of shows that will be removed from Disney+ and Hulu by June 1, according to Deadline.
Big Shot [Disney+]
Turner & Hooch [Disney+]
The Mysterious Benedict Society [Disney+]
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers [Disney+]
Willow [Disney+]
The Making Of Willow [Disney+]
Diary of a Future President [Disney+]
Just Beyond [Disney+]
The World According to Jeff Goldblum [Disney+]
Marvel’s Project Hero [Disney+]
The Right Stuff [Disney+]
The Real Right Stuff [Disney+]
Cheaper by the Dozen remake [Disney+]
The One and Only Ivan [Disney+]
Stargirl [Disney+]
Hollywood Stargirl [Disney+]
Flora & Ulysses [Disney+]
Artemis Fowl [Disney+]
The Princess [Disney+]
Encore! [Disney+]
Black Beauty [Disney+]
Clouds [Disney+]
America the Beautiful [Disney+]
Better Nate Than Ever [Disney+]
Weird But True! [Disney+]
Timmy Failure [Disney+]
Be Our Chef [Disney+]
Magic Camp [Disney+]
Earth to Ned [Disney+]
Foodtastic [Disney+]
Stuntman [Disney+]
Disney Fairy Tale Weddings [Disney+]
Wolfgang [Disney+]
It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer [Disney+]
The Big Fib [Disney+]
Rogue Trip [Disney+]
More Than Robots [Disney+]
Shop Class [Disney+]
Pick the Litter [Disney+]
Own the Room [Disney+]
Among the Stars [Disney+]
Harmonious Live! [Disney+]
Pentatonix: Around the World for the Holidays [Disney+]
Y: The Last Man [FX/Hulu]
Pistol [FX/Hulu]
Little Demon [FX/Hulu]
Maggie [Hulu]
Dollface [Hulu]
The Hot Zone [Nat Geo/Hulu]
The Premise [Hulu]
Love in the Time of Corona [Hulu]
Everything’s Trash [Hulu]
Best in Snow [Hulu]
Best in Dough [Hulu]
Darby and the Dead [Hulu]
The Quest [Hulu]
Rosaline [Hulu]
Life Below Zero: Next Generation [Nat Geo/Hulu]
National Geographic Investigates: LSD and Psychedelics [Nat Geo/Hulu]
9/11: One Day in America [Nat Geo/Hulu]
The Armstrong Tapes [Nat Geo/Hulu]
Buried Secrets of WWII [Nat Geo/Hulu]
Bin Laden’s Hard Drive [Nat Geo/Hulu]
Croc That Ate Jaws [Nat Geo/Hulu]
Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller [Nat Geo/Hulu]
Drug Lords: The Next Generation [Nat Geo/Hulu]
Extreme Rescues [Nat Geo/Hulu]
Most Wanted Sharks [Nat Geo/Hulu]
Locked Up Abroad [Nat Geo/Hulu]
North Korea: Inside the Mind of a Dictator [Nat Geo/Hulu]
To Catch A Smuggler Rome [Nat Geo/Hulu]
Ultimate Survival WWII [Nat Geo/Hulu]
What do you think of the new ‘fewer programs for more money’ approach? Offer your comments in the comments section below.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
