Disney plans to combine content from Hulu with Disney+ to form a single streaming app available across the United States by the end of the year, Disney CEO Bob Iger said on May 10.
He noted that Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ will continue to be available to customers as stand-alone services.
“I’m pleased to announce that we will soon begin offering a one-app experience domestically that incorporates our Hulu content via Disney+,” Igor said.
“While we continue to offer Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ as stand-alone options, this is a logical progression of our DTC offerings that will provide greater opportunities for advertisers while giving bundle subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content, resulting in greater audience engagement and ultimately leading to a more unified streaming experience.”
The new incorporated content will be launched by the end of 2023 and will be available to customers who subscribe to both streaming services, Iger noted.
“Despite the near-term macro headwinds of the overall marketplace today, the advertising potential of this combined platform is incredibly exciting,” he added.
Changes to Ad-Free Plan
Disney+ launched its ad-based tier in December 2022 for $7.99 a month while also increasing the price of its ad-free plan from around $8 to $10.99 a month.However, Iger said Wednesday that pricing changes Disney has already implemented have proven to be successful, and that the price of the ad-free plan will also be raised to “better reflect the value of our content offerings,” although he stopped short of providing a new price for that plan.
Elsewhere, the Disney CEO said that the company’s purchase of Comcast’s stake in Hulu still has “not really been fully determined,” but that the content on Disney+ combined with “general entertainment content” would be a “very strong combination from a subscriber retention perspective, and also from an advertiser perspective.”
“So, where we are headed is for one experience that would have general entertainment and Disney+ content together for the reasons that I just described,” Igor said. “How that ultimately unfolds is, to some extent, in the hands of Comcast and in the hands of, basically, a conversation or a negotiation that we have with them. I don’t want to be in any way predictive in terms of when or how that ends up.”
Disney Feud With DeSantis: ‘About One Thing Only’
Disney+ said Wednesday (pdf) that it lost four million subscribers in the second quarter, bringing the total to 157.8 million, down from 161.8 million in the previous quarter, marking continued declines seen in the last quarter of 2022.The declines were driven largely by Disney+ Hotstar, its Indian subscription streaming service, which dropped down from 57.5 million subscribers in December 2022 to 52.9 million as of April amid outrage among viewers over the company’s unsuccessful bid to retain streaming rights for the Indian Premier Cricket League.
The losses come as Disney has been undergoing major restructuring, most recently launching another round of layoffs in a bid to retain costs.
The law bans instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools for kindergarten through third grade. Dinsey has voiced opposition to the bill.
Touching upon the standoff on Wednesday, Iger said he had “a few things I want to say about” the matter.
“First of all, I think the case that we filed last month made our position in the facts very clear, and that’s really that this is about one thing and one thing only, and that’s retaliating against us for taking a position about pending legislation,” Iger said.
“And we believe that in us taking that position, we are merely exercising our right to free speech. Also, this is not about special privileges or a level playing field or Disney in any way using its leverage around the state of Florida,” he added.
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