Longtime readers of PARQOR will be familiar with my argument that Disney is likely running an A/B/C/D test of Disney+ bundles across different regions (NOTE: on the Substack archive). Those four tests are:

• Test A (U.S. only): Bundle of Disney+, Sports (ESPN+), and vMVPD (Hulu + Live) and/or adult audience content (Hulu)
• Test B (Latin America): Bundle of Disney+ and Star+ (ESPN and adult audience content)
• Test C (Europe, Canada, ANZ, Singapore): Disney+ app with Star Branded Tile (adult audience content)
• Test D (India, Indonesia): Disney + Hotstar (Disney+, adult audience content, and sports)

Two key tests have changed since last February, when I wrote the essay. 

Test A has seen a major change. Disney+ is now increasingly adding more adult-oriented fare to Disney+, like the third season of queer teen romantic drama “Love, Victor”, whose first season was originally moved from Disney+ to Hulu after Disney’s near-religious focus on being family-friendly. It also faces questions about Hulu’s future as Disney approaches a January 2024 deadline to buy Comcast’s remaining 33% stake in the business for a minimum of $27.5B (as per the May 2019 agreement).

Test D has also seen a major change after losing the streaming rights to Indian Premier League cricket: though Disney+ Hotstar still offers sports, it does not have one of the hottest cricket broadcasts in India.

The Disney+ bundle in both markets now looks significantly different in two key markets 18 months after I first speculated about these four tests. A key question is, what do these significant differences tell us about the future of the Disney sports streaming?