Why is Disney taking over full control of Hulu? Image credit: AdobeStock
According to Streaming Rant, Disney is taking over full control of Hulu and already owns 67% of Hulu’s stakes. Comcast owns the rest 33% of the stakes. This is due to an agreement signed between Comcast and Disney Plus back in May 2019.
The Disney-Hulu deal also included a future change that will allow both Disney Plus and Comcast to force any changes. In 2024, Disney can force Comcast to sell its stakes at $27.5 billion minimum for the whole company.
Disney bought the stakes of Fox and WarnerMedia to get more overall stakes of Hulu. Just after Disney announced that it is buying 66% of its shares, Disney’s stock increased by 1.6 percent.
This deal has helped Disney+ to give competition to its rivals including Netflix, and Prime Video. Hulu has given its shares to Warner Media, Fox, Disney, and NBCUniversal in the past.
Disney is taking over complete control of Hulu, as it is solidifying itself against its competitors. Disney+ continues to add popular movies and TV shows in its content library and is attracting new subscribers worldwide, complete control of one of its rivals will give it huge benefits over its other rivals.
Disney Plus was initially released in the US but gradually expanded its services to other parts of the world and is currently available in more than 55 regions worldwide. Another reason for the massive success of Disney+ is its diverse content library, which contains all the Disney originals that have a separate fan base. Also, with features like Premier Access Disney+ is raking in new subscribers globally.
Hulu is adding new originals to its library, and many of the content titles available on Hulu are exclusive to it and are not available on any other streaming platforms. Disney is benefitting from Hulu’s unique content library as the people who will subscribe to Hulu will ultimately benefit Disney.
Hulu, even though was released in 2007 but it has 39.4 million subscribers to this day. One factor that has limited Hulu’s subscribers is its geo-restrictions, as the streaming platform is only available in the US and Japan.
Disney also owns an 80% stake in ESPN+, which has over 12.1 million subscribers in the US. Disney now offers its bundle that combines Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ in one package. This ownership is giving Disney a massive benefit over other platforms.
All in all, Disney has benefited by taking complete control of Hulu, which has helped it produce more capital and compete with its rivals. The combined bundles that include Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ at discounted rates give Disney an edge over other streaming platforms.