Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Disney will soon own 100% of Hulu

Caleb Denison
By
App icons for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN.
Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

As part of a buyout move that’s been several months in the making, Disney will soon purchase Comcast’s 33% stake in Hulu, becoming the sole owner of the popular streaming service.

The Walt Disney Company, which already owns the other two-thirds of Hulu thanks to its 2019 purchase of 20th Century Fox, made an announcement today that updates the timeline for its acquisition. In the statement, Disney said it expects to pay Comcast Corp.’s NBC Universal approximately $8.61 billion. The purchase amount is to be based on an appraisal of Hulu’s value conducted on September 30, 2023.

Recommended Videos

The agreement, which was struck in 2019, was based on Hulu’s then-appraised fair value of $27.5 billion. Though the wheels on this deal will be set in motion on December 1, 2023, the ink isn’t expected to dry until sometime in early 2024.

Related

Hulu had 48.3 million subscribers at the end of the most recent quarter, according to Reuters, compared with 24 million paid subscribers for Comcast’s Peacock streaming service and 105.7 million global subscribers for Disney+.

Hulu is considerably larger than many of its direct competitors. Sling TV ended the second quarter of 2023 with just over 2 million subscribers, while Fubo had just 1.1 million. YouTube TV has proven stronger than both of these services, though it hasn’t released numbers since July 2022, when it had just over 5 million subscribers.

The acquisition would give Disney full ownership of one of the most popular cable TV alternative streaming bundles, which include various combinations of Disney+, Hulu, and Disney-owned ESPN+.

The Disney Bundles include:

  • Disney Bundle Duo Basic for $10 per month (Disney+ with ads and Hulu with ads).
  • Disney Bundle Trio Basic for $15 per month (Disney+ with ads, Hulu with ads, and ESPN+ with ads).
  • Disney Bundle Trio Premium for $25 per month (Disney+ with no ads, Hulu with no ads, and ESPN+ with ads.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Caleb Denison
Caleb Denison
Editor at Large
Digital Trends Editor at Large Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched…
What is Disney Plus: plans, price, and everything else you should know
Lenovo Tab Extreme showing Disney Plus.

Where can you watch all the latest Disney movies and shows, on top of the company’s trove of animated classics? The answer is Disney+, a content-packed streaming platform that includes close to a century’s worth of Disney shorts and features. You’ll also be able to indulge in movies and shows from Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Nat Geo, and 21st Century Fox.

How much does Disney+ cost? How do I create an account? And can I watch the Star Wars prequels on the service? We’ll answer all these questions and more in this everything-you-need-to-know Disney+ guide we’ve created. 

Read more
The [redacted] bits are the best part of Fubo’s sports streamer lawsuit
FuboTV app icon on Apple TV.

Fubo has poked the bear. Three bears, actually, in filing a federal antitrust lawsuit against an upcoming joint venture (known as a JV for obvious reasons) that sees Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery teaming up for a new sports streaming service that is planned to launch this fall.

At first glance, the lawsuit (and its accompanying press release) seems like an offseason Festivus airing of grievances.

Read more
Amazon Prime Video makes Dolby Vision, Atmos a paid upgrade
The Amazon Prime Video app icon on Roku.

I have bad news if you're an Amazon Prime Video subscriber who hasn't opted for the company's new ad-free tier. Not only are you starting to see ads before you get to binge the latest season of Reacher, but you also won't be getting the show streamed in Dolby's most advanced formats -- Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

First reported by German website 4KFilme, then corroborated by Forbes in the U.K., it seems that Amazon has removed Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos from its base streaming tier (which became ad-supported on January 29), making the formats exclusive to those who opt-in to the ad-free premium subscription, which costs an additional $3 per month.

Read more