• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, February 7, 2025

What drove Disney's upswing in streaming revenue in Q4 last year? A little cartoon dog from Australia named Bluey.

If this was a surprise to Disney brass, they made no mention of that in a Wednesday press release announcing the company's results for October through December of last year (which technically is Q1 of Disney's fiscal year).

“In calendar year 2024, Disney had the top four most streamed shows in the U.S., led by ‘Bluey’ with more than 55 billion minutes viewed on Disney+,” Disney said in the release.

Imported from Australia and aimed at preschoolers, “Bluey” is about a family of cartoon canines with human traits.

Bluey (above photo, right) is one of two daughters on the show, which depicts the wholesome world of her family, the Heelers, led by dad Bandit (above photo, center, with other daughter Bingo, left) and mom Chilli.

Also notable were the other three top performers in Disney's announcement. They were all off-network shows -- “Grey's Anatomy,” “Family Guy” and “Bob's Burgers.”

The three demonstrate once again the streaming strength of some TV series whose lives began on network TV.

On streaming, all of a show's episodes are available at once and in order, making for binge watching for days, if not weeks.

“Grey’s” topped off at 438 episodes, “Family Guy” has 426 and continues to make more; and “Bob's Burgers” is up to 286 episodes and counting.

You hear this all the time. Off-network shows such as “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” “The Office” and “Suits” are often cited as high streaming performers.

In streaming, the company said operating income increased by $431 million (from a previous loss of -$138 million) to $293 million in the plus column.

Among many other things, the success of “Bluey” and another Disney property cited in the results -- the movie “Moana 2” -- point to Disney's unshakeable reputation for family entertainment, and specifically the company's content for children.

“Content sales/licensing and other operating income increased $536 million to +$312 million [from a previous loss of -$224 million] driven by the performance of ‘Moana 2’,” the company said, adding that box office for the animated movie “recently crossed $1 billion globally.”