Disney+ and Hulu will finally become one app as Disney moves to fully purchase the latter streaming service.
At Wednesday's Quarter 2 earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the plan for The Walt Disney Company to purchase the remainder of Hulu from Comcast. "While we continue to offer Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ as standalone options, this is a logical progression of our DTC offerings that will provide greater opportunities for advertisers, while giving bundle subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content, resulting in greater audience engagement and ultimately leading to a more unified streaming experience," Iger said.
While Disney has maintained an option to purchase 100 percent of Comcast for years, questions have remained about whether the entertainment company would fully absorb the streaming site. Now, it seems the time is right for both libraries to be combined. "The advertising potential of this combined platform is incredibly exciting," Iger added.
The deadline for either company making a decision is January 2024, so it's no surprise Iger made the announcement today. Disney currently owns two-thirds of the streaming service, with Comcast's co-ownership allowing for Hulu to feature a wider range of content.
The Road to Disney Owning Hulu
Since its launch in 2007, Hulu has changed hands a number of times and has always been a joint effort among various media partners. In March 2019, Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox gave the media giant a 60 percent stake in Hulu. AT&T then sold its 10 percent share back to Disney and Comcast, making the split between the companies 67 and 33 percent.
Since Disney began adding Fox content to its library on Disney+ and Hulu, the latter has largely been the home to more adult-oriented content. But the decision to add R-rated films to Disney+ with Logan and Deadpool 1 and 2 in July 2022 signaled Disney was willing to add a wider range of movies and TV to its flagship streamer. Now, all content under the Disney umbrella could potentially come to Disney+, if the name remains the same once Hulu is incorporated.
While subscription growth for Hulu has largely remained flat over the past few months, Disney+ subscriber growth is down as of the earnings call. Likely, more shakeups and business decisions will follow the news similar to the changes at HBO Max (now dubbed simply Max) when it merged with Discovery+.
Source: via The Hollywood Reporter