Disney has a vision. New CEO Josh D’Amaro wants everything the company owns living under one roof — specifically, the Disney+ app. It’s a bold idea, and honestly, it’s a smart one.
But when you start pulling at the threads, particularly around ABC News, the strategy gets a lot more complicated.
The appeal of consolidation is obvious. One app, one subscription, one destination — consumers don’t have to toggle between platforms to find what they want. That convenience is real, and D’Amaro deserves credit for thinking big. Still, wanting something and executing it are two very different things.
Consider what Disney+ currently represents in the minds of most subscribers. It’s where families fire up Bluey on a Saturday morning. It’s where The Mandalorian lives. It’s where Taylor Swift concert films and Pixar classics sit side by side. That brand association didn’t happen by accident — Disney built it deliberately.
News and Nostalgia Don’t Always Mix
Now layer ABC News into that equation. World News Tonight and 20/20 carry weight. They tackle serious topics, cover tragedies, and often present the kind of content that requires a different headspace than what someone brings to a Marvel movie. That’s not a knock on ABC News — it’s a recognition that hard-hitting journalism and feel-good family entertainment operate in fundamentally different emotional registers.
The user behavior question is the real challenge here. How long does it take for someone accustomed to opening Disney+ for kid-friendly content to instinctively return to that same app when they want to catch up on a news cycle? Habits are stubborn things, and retraining an audience isn’t cheap or fast. It requires sustained marketing investment and, perhaps more importantly, a clear signal to users that the app isn’t just for cartoons anymore.
Warner Bros. Discovery wrestled with a version of this problem. CNN didn’t fit cleanly inside what was then HBO Max, and the news network eventually found itself lost in the clutter. Leadership ultimately removed it from the platform altogether. That’s not an encouraging precedent for D’Amaro’s ambitions.
Does ABC News Need Its Own Home?
Fox News presents an interesting counterpoint, though it’s not a clean comparison. The FOX One app exists largely because of Fox News — the news product drives the platform, not the other way around. Disney+ isn’t built around ABC News, and it almost certainly can’t pivot to treat it that way without alienating the core audience that made the app successful.
The honest question is whether ABC News is better served with a dedicated app of its own. A standalone destination would let the brand breathe, build its own identity with news consumers, and compete directly against the likes of Peacock News or CBS News Streaming without fighting for real estate alongside animated films. That clarity of purpose matters — both for the product and for the audience it’s trying to reach.
ESPN’s presence on Disney+ is an easier pill to swallow. Sports and entertainment share enough cultural DNA that the overlap feels natural. News is a different animal entirely. It demands trust, urgency, and a user relationship built on reliability — not on which streaming service also has the best kids’ content library.
D’Amaro’s one-app vision is worth pursuing. Simplicity wins in the streaming wars more often than complexity does. But Disney would be wise to ask whether forcing ABC News into that ecosystem serves the news division — or quietly diminishes it. Sometimes the best move for a brand is giving it room to stand on its own.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
