Prior to Disney’s March 2019 purchase of many of Fox’s
U.S. assets, Hulu was jointly owned by Disney (30%), Comcast (30%), Fox (30%),
and AT&T (10%). Today, Disney is the
majority owner with operational control of Hulu. As early as 2024, it may control 100% of the
streaming service. How so? It started with the Fox acquisition and
continued with AT&T agreeing to sell its interest back to Hulu. Then, a few weeks ago, Comcast agreed sell
its stake in Hulu as early as five years from now.
What does this mean? It means that Disney is going full steam
ahead into streaming. CEO Bob Iger said that
the company is now able to "completely integrate Hulu into its
streaming plans in a way that makes the service even more compelling and
a greater value for consumers." This
three-prong attack – Hulu with more adult programming and 27 million U.S.
subscribers, Disney+ with more family-programming, and ESPN+ with sports
programming -- provides a tremendous opportunity for Disney to reach consumers using
individual offerings and/or a discounted bundle. Going it alone seems to be in vogue of late
among content owners. There will be
winners and losers. Disney’s streaming
strategy is positioning it to be one of the winners!
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