The current CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Bob Chapek, has expressed interest in integrating the popular streaming service Hulu into his company’s Disney Plus service in the near future to offer viewers a more seamless streaming experience. This interest was expressed in light of the Walt Disney Company's plans to take complete ownership of the streaming platform on or before 2024.
The Walt Disney Company currently owns a majority stake in the former rival platform after augmenting their 33% stake in the company by acquiring another third of the shares from their acquisition of the majority of the Fox Corporation's entertainment assets in 2019. At the time of this acquisition, the company reached an agreement with Comcast, the company that owned the last third of Hulu, to buy them out at a fair market price by 2024 in exchange for assuming total control of the streaming service.
Chapek, who worked at the Walt Disney Company in various capacities for 26 years before becoming CEO of the entertainment conglomerate on the 25th of February 2020, expressed interest in merging Hulu into Disney Plus during a Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Tech Conference. He also mentioned that he would like to see the total ownership of Hulu by the Walt Disney Company before the stipulated 2024 deadline as a step forward in fast-tracking the integration to get rid of the consumer ‘friction’ caused by the need to switch between the two services. In his address, Chapek also said that he would be happy to facilitate the early move but that Comcast would need to “offer reasonable terms” for the acquisition to go through earlier than the 2024 deadline, implying that the two companies do not currently see eye to eye on what a fair market price for the 33% stake is at this time.
The integration would benefit the Walt Disney Company, as Hulu has remained a comparable presence in the on-demand streaming market, effectively equaling Disney Plus in market share as recently as Q3 of 2021. While relatively newer than most of its competitors, Disney Plus has certainly been a big hit with audiences, in no small part due to the acquisition of media and entertainment companies with access to major intellectual properties, such as Marvel and Star Wars. These additions have given Disney the license to create many popular shows and related media for the streaming service, making it a must-have for many.
Adding Hulu, which plays host to popular existing properties from the 90s and beyond, alongside originals like The Handmaid's Tale and potential chart toppers like House of the Dragon, would make Disney Plus more enjoyable and valuable for consumers. A more business-minded analysis also reveals that this integration might be a solid step in bringing Disney Plus closer in market share to a long-time leader Netflix, which has seen a significant reduction in its viewership over the last year.
Whether the move will be enough to close the lead remains to be seen, as competitors like Amazon Prime Video also continue to make moves. Irrespective of the outcome, this will be a nice win for Chapek and might help to gloss over the controversy the Disney CEO garnered earlier this year.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter