'Hamilton' Spurs 74% Spike in Disney+ Downloads; Q2 Box Office Falls 99.9%

Hype about Friday's Disney+ release of Hamilton, with theaters closed during COVID-19 lockdowns, showed consumers’ appetite for viewing theatrical content in a streaming format. In May, Disney Chairman Robert Iger tweeted the decision to bring Hamilton to Disney+, 15 months before planned theatrical release.

Apptopia reported a spike in Disney+ downloads around the movie’s release, citing a 47% spike in Disney+ mobile app downloads globally Friday-Sunday, 74% higher in the U.S. vs. the previous four weekends. The app was downloaded 752,451 times globally and 458,796 in the U.S. over the three-day weekend, an Apptopia spokesperson emailed Tuesday. The actual impact was likely bigger “as many people likely downloaded it on their smart TVs and may or may not have also downloaded it on mobile,” he said. Disney didn't comment.

Q2 domestic box office ended down 99.9% year over year to $3.69 million, Wedbush's Michael Pachter wrote investors. The analyst doesn’t see theater attendance returning to normal levels until year-end at the earliest, and he expects “a significant portion of moviegoers are not going to be bold enough to return.” That could drive studios and exhibitors “to delay more releases until there is a vaccine.”

Hub Research reported 63% of 18-34-year-olds would “definitely” or “probably” pay up to $50 to stream a just-released movie. That didn’t change dramatically in price testing at $15 (67%), $25 (65%) and $50 (57%), it said. For consumers 35 and older, 12% said they would pay for the streaming experience. Seven in 10 consumers surveyed said Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video offer excellent or good value for the money vs. 40% of traditional pay-TV subscribers who said they get “at least good value.”

MVPD subscribers -- whether or not they also have streaming services -- said they pay $29 more than they should, said the survey, fielded last month among 2,036 U.S. broadband consumers ages 16-74 who watch at least one of hour of TV weekly. Those with MVPD service said they pay an average $37 more ($106 current spend) than they consider reasonable. Streaming-only subscribers said it was $6 more ($60 current spend).

Among streaming platforms, Netflix ranked No. 1, with 73% of respondents feeling they get excellent or good service, followed by Hulu (70%), Disney+ (70%), Amazon Prime Video (69%) and Apple TV+ (62%).

Quality is becoming increasingly important as consumers turn to streaming as their primary source of video entertainment, said Abdul Rehman, CEO of SSIMwave Monday. It's pushing for a consistent measuring standard MVPDs can use to improve the viewing experience. Quality of experience and costs are the top two concerns of streaming providers, said the survey.

A SSIMwave survey said the top methods used by the industry to measure the impact of optimization on the viewing experience are peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) at 14%, third-party platforms (13%), providers’ engineers’ methodologies (12.7%) and structural similarity index (11.3%). PSNR was the leading methodology used by MVPDs; third-party platforms were used most by broadcasters; and over-the-top respondents primarily used internal video engineers’ methodologies. The varied results “underscore the need for a consistent, objective measuring standard that can help operators choose optimization strategies that balance cost efficiency with the need to maximize viewer satisfaction,” said Rehman.