Skip to main content

Combined Disney+/Hulu app to launch in beta in December

App icons for Hulu and Disney+ on Apple TV.
Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

It’s finally happening. After months of rumors, followed by an actual announcement, a combined app with content from Disney+ and Hulu will launch in beta status in December 2023, ahead of an official launch in the spring.

Recommended Videos

And, well, that’s really all we have at the moment. Disney CEO Bob Iger dropped the news on the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call on November 8. (The company ends its fiscal year on September 30.)

“We remain on track to roll out the more unified one-app experience domestically,” Iger said on the call, “making extensive general-entertainment content available to subscribers via Disney Plus … We will launch a beta version for bundled subscribers in December, giving parents time to set up profiles and parental controls that work best for their families, ahead of the official launch in spring 2024.

“We feel really good about that,” Iger said of the combined app during the call’s Q&A session. “I saw some demos of that basically yesterday, as a matter of fact. In late March we’ll launch it basically in full form.”

Iger didn’t immediately give any details on how that beta rollout would work, given that the various platforms have various methods of beta testing. (Or, for that matter, we don’t know if the combination will be some sort of opt-in feature for Disney Bundle subscribers, or if it would require a new app. That last part is unlikely.) That time between beta and full launch also gives Disney time to close out the acquisition of the rest of Hulu after finally purchasing Comcast’s stake in the streaming service.

On its own, Disney+ finished the fiscal year with 46.5 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. Hulu’s on-demand total closed out at 43.9 million subscribers. It’s not known how much of that is overlap via the Disney Bundle, though. But look for an even bigger push toward the bundle, which is how subscribers will be able to get that combined Disney+/Hulu app.

Also, expect to see a continued push toward ad-supported tiers. Netflix, which also has the same scheme, has flat-out said that it makes more money on tiers with ads than it does on the tiers that don’t have ads. Iger said that approximately 2 million subscribers joined an ad-supported tier in the fourth quarter, and more than 50% of new subscribers chose a tier with advertising.

And in the past six months, subscribers who are on a tier with ads spent 34% more time watching the service.

Phil Nickinson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
If you have to watch one Hulu show this April, stream this one
Martin Freeman in Fargo

Although Netflix has worked hard to make itself synonymous with TV, Hulu might just have a deeper library of interesting, excellent TV. Not only does it have a deeper library, but Hulu also produces plenty of interesting shows in its own right.

Many of those shows come from a partnership with FX, which has been committed to making great shows for more than a decade. One of the early shows that helped to cement FX's commitment to quality was Fargo, an off-the-wall, sideways adaptation of the Coen Brothers movie of the same name. Each season is a different spin on the setting and archetypes of that original movie, and every season is worth watching. Here's why it's worth checking out:

Read more
3 great Hulu movies you need to stream this weekend (April 4 – 6)
Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer in Tombstone.

If you visited the Hulu home page this week, you may have noticed that the streamer was promoting Tombstone, one of the best movies that Val Kilmer ever starred in. Kilmer passed away earlier this week, and Tombstone's return to Hulu on April 1 was purely happenstance. But in honor of the the late actor, it seems fitting to name Tombstone as one of the three great Hulu movies that you need to stream this weekend.

Our remaining two picks for the weekend include a harrowing psychological thriller and a comedy/drama from one of the quirkiest directors in Hollywood.

Read more
3 great Hulu movies you need to stream this weekend (March 28- 30)
Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown.

Earlier this month, Hulu had the good fortune to add Anora to its lineup just a few weeks after it won Best Picture at the Oscars. This week, Hulu is adding another one of last year's Best Picture nominees, A Complete Unknown. Naturally, it's our top pick for the three great Hulu movies you need to stream this weekend.

Our two remaining picks for the last weekend in March are a college drama and one of Jim Carrey's best movies. Any or all of these films are a great way to close out the month from the comfort of your own home.

Read more