This week marked the initiation of Disney’s acquisition process for the remaining 33% of Hulu from Comcast, solidifying Disney as the exclusive owner of the widely-used streaming service.
Debuting in 2007 as a collaborative venture similar to the CW, Hulu provided “next-day TV” from NBCUniversal and other partners, initially offering a free, ad-supported model. In 2010, Hulu introduced a subscription plan, Hulu Plus, enabling it to compete directly with Netflix by providing complete seasons of shows and immediate access to new episodes—something Netflix did not offer.
Throughout its evolution, Hulu had partnerships with entities like 21st Century Fox, Disney, Comcast, and WarnerMedia (later becoming Warner Bros. Discovery). As ownership dynamics shifted, particularly with Disney acquiring 21st Century Fox and WarnerMedia selling 10%, Disney emerged as the majority stakeholder with 67%, while Comcast retained 33%. The minority stakeholder committed to selling to Disney by 2024 and ceded control of the platform in 2019.
Disney recently submitted documentation expressing their intention to buy out Comcast for a minimum of $8.61 billion or fair market value. Given the complexity of such a substantial deal, its closure is anticipated in 2024.
Bob Iger disclosed plans to develop a unified app for Hulu and Disney+ to provide users with a consolidated platform for accessing movies and shows from both services. Previously hesitant about combining the two platforms, Disney now seems more open to the idea of a unified app, with Iger stating during an earnings call, “We are basically putting it in beta so that we can prepare parents, largely, to basically implement parental controls because you’ll be able to access Hulu programming on the same app.”
Despite rumors circulating about the potential closure of Disney+, there is no credible evidence to support such claims. It appears that these rumors may have stemmed from a misunderstanding of the integration of the two apps. While Disney+ and Hulu may undergo changes, both services are expected to continue offering their distinct programming. The specifics of whether users can subscribe to just one service without the other remain unclear, with the beta phase set to commence in December 2023.
