Disney+ to reportedly show 4 minutes of ads an hour

Disney+ will reportedly carry approximately four minutes of commercials per hour on its ad-support version. The Wall Street Journal reported that the duration of ads is shorter than what most of Disney+'s competitors are offering and is also "significantly smaller" than what is found on traditional TV.

NBCUniversal's Peacock service has about five minutes of commercials an hour while HBO Max would not have more than four minutes of ads an hour, WSJ said. According to Kantar, ads on traditional TV are typically between 18 and 23 minutes an hour.

Meanwhile, Disney+ will not run ads on programmes catered to preschool children and preschoolers who use their own profiles to watch the ad-supported version of Disney+ will not see any ads. This is regardless of what programmes they choose to stream, WSJ said.

Citing Disney's president of ad sales and partnerships, Rita Ferro, WSJ said the company is "never going to collect data on individual kids to target them". Earlier this year, Disney+ said it will make available a reduced price version of its streaming service, which is ad-supported. The service will roll out in the US later in 2022 before expanding into more markets next year.

Ferro said previously that advertisers have been "clamouring for the opportunity to be part of Disney+" since its launch. "Disney+ with advertising will offer marketers the most premium environment in streaming with our most beloved brands, Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and National Geographic," she added then. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Disney+ for comment.

Meanwhile, Netflix has also relented to having an ad-supported version after years of resisting ads. Co-CEO Reed Hastings said during an earnings call earlier this year that having a cheaper option for consumers would "make a lot of sense". "Allowing consumers who would like to have a lower price and are ad tolerant get what they want makes a lot of sense," he said, adding that the plan will roll out over the next year or two.

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