Problem is the projects that the Muppets do dont make nearly enough of a return vs the investment put into them. As a studio the Muppets would flat out fail compared to the others.
I dont know the specifics, but I assume the reason Disney puts the Muppets under merch is because the merch sales are funding the projects as opposed to the projects funding themselves. I assume its kind of like how Sesame Street has to fund itself through merch.
Frankly, the Muppets just are not profitable for Disney outside of merch. They are too expensive.
That’s why we all need to hope that any and all upcoming Muppets projects will make enough money so The Muppets Studio can be able to separate itself from Disney Consumer Products and become independent with the ability to sustain itself.
And all the fickle fanboys and fangirls out there need to knock it off with the “I won’t watch it” garbage and other such bits of bellyaching just because they’re doing things with the characters that they personally don’t approve of, interacting with celebrities they don’t like, still refusing to get over the firing of Steve Whitmire, etc. If those average joes knew all that, they would probably be more supportive of the Muppets no matter what!
Not to mention that we would get even more new Muppet stuff on a regular consistent basis if The Muppets Studio were to become independent like Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, etc. and be fully free to do things their own way.