Disney currently offers a bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. These options are available as standalone or as part of the bundle. Disney CEO announced today that Disney Plus and Hulu will be combining into one app in the US.
The new app will begin to roll out by the end of the calendar year 2023. As of right now, this option will only be available to subscribers of both services. “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 today during a Disney earnings call.
This combining of the offerings into one app signifies that the house of mouse is intent on buying out Comcast of their part of Hulu. Disney does hold the majority stake of Hulu and Comcast owns a third of the service. Starting in January, Comcast does have the ability to use its put option to force Disney to buy or Disney has the buy option to force Comcast to sell. “How that ultimately unfolds is to some extent in the hands of Comcast and in the hands of a basically a conversation or a negotiation that we have with them,” Iger said, adding that Disney had already had some “cordial” conversations with Comcast already.
It seems that the more things change the more they stay the same, streaming has become cable all over again, just that you can watch it anywhere vs just on a television. Iger did mention that Disney also plans to increase prices on ad-free tier later this year. It is something to note that Disney Plus did have a price increase last year.
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