Disney is finally set to incorporate Hulu content within the Disney+ app in the United States, with the feature being rolled out by the end of the calendar year.
CEO Bob Iger announced the news during Disney’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday. The option will only be available to consumers who have subscribed to both services.
This will bring the app more in line with Disney+ outside the United States, where Hulu doesn’t operate. Instead, global markets have a sixth ’tile’ within the Disney+ app named ‘Star’, which contains much of Hulu’s original content, FX, ABC, and a library of 20th Century Fox titles (no ‘live TV’ service).
It’s expected that the tile will be changed to a ‘Hulu’ one for the U.S. market. Disney will also continue offering Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ as standalone options. Iger says:
“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.
A combination of the content that is on Disney+ with general entertainment is a very strong combination from a subscriber perspective, from a subscriber acquisition-subscriber retention perspective and also from an advertiser perspective.”
Iger added that Disney’s purchase of Comcast’s stake in Hulu has still not “been fully determined” but cordial and constructive talks have taken place. Starting in January 2024, both companies can use options for Comcast to sell off its stake.
Disney largely beat Wall Street expectations on most critical metrics during its call, including revenue, though it 2lost four million subscribers – dropping to 157.8 million. The drop mostly comes from Disney+ Hotstar in Asia.
CFO Christine McCarthy also says Disney is “in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation” and says they “will be removing certain content from our streaming platforms”.
Source: THR
