Disney’s upfront event pushed advertising to the forefront, highlighting growth, innovation, and fandom.
Disney announced it is expanding media planning, buying, and measurement capabilities for UK advertisers, at its upfront event in London, UK earlier this week.
Since launching its advertising tier on Disney+ in 2023 across EMEA, more than 4,000 brands have advertised on its streaming service. In fact, ad revenue in the UK is up 80% year-on-year, with demand for sponsorship continuing to grow.
The increase in advertising follows Disney’s expansion of its ad server into EMEA over the summer, which it says offers a more connected and data-driven advertising ecosystem, enabling brands to plan, activate and measure campaigns at scale.
It also comes after Disney+ made its live sport coverage on ESPN available to UK subscribers, earlier in the year. Viewers now have access to US sports such as NBA (National Basketball Association) and NHL (National Hockey League) coverage of the 2026/27 season, alongside LaLiga football matches and the UEFA Women’s Champions League matches.
Now, over the next year, the Mickey Mouse creator has set its sights on expanding its activation and measurement toolset and at the centre of that is Disney Audience Graph.
Disney Compass, which uses the Disney Audience Graph at its foundation, will bring together media planning, measurement, and data collaboration tools together in one connected experience alongside a data clean room.
From there, Disney Select will segment audiences to help brands target high-value audiences at scale.
The streaming giant will also soon be introducing Magic Words, an AI-driven contextual and emotional ad platform; and Pause Ads, the ability to serve an ad when playback is paused, to help connect brands to audiences as they are engaged.
Deborah Armstrong, senior vice president, Disney Advertising EMEA and UK and Ireland said: “The growth we’re seeing for Disney Advertising reflects the power and strength of our storytelling and fandom.
“Audiences are actively choosing to spend time with our series, characters and the franchises they love. And our audience are highly relevant for advertisers; 43% of viewing hours on Disney+ in the UK are watched by 16-34-year-olds. Brands can connect with highly engaged and emotionally connected viewers.”
This year, Disney advertising launched the first brand integrations in the UK, centred around season two of Rivals. It featured Waitrose products inspired by the hit show based on the Jilly Cooper novel. This drove 75% ad recall and doubled brand likeability.
This comes alongside an expansion of UK sponsorships, with brands now able to align between genres, franchises, and new and returning series.
Armstrong continued: “Combined with our continued investment in advertising technology, measurement and partnerships, we’re making it easier than ever for advertisers to harness the power of Disney fandom at scale.”
