Viewers will likely be deleting a popular streaming app from their homepage as Disney plans to fully integrate it with Disney+.
Walt Disney Co. announced during a conference call on Aug. 6 that it plans to combine Hulu with Disney+ "to create a unified app experience."
The new platform, which will be available to consumers in 2026, will feature news and sports in addition to branded and general entertainment.
"We are announcing a major step forward in strengthening our streaming offering by fully integrating Hulu into Disney+," Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the meeting. "This will create an impressive package of entertainment, pairing the highest caliber brands and franchises, great general entertainment, kids programming, news and industry-leading live sports content, all in a single app."
The move is meant to provide a "far better consumer experience," Iger said, and "greater advertising revenue potential" by allowing the company to package ad sales more efficiently.
"I imagine down the road it may give us some price elasticity as well that we haven't had before," Iger noted.
Disney did not immediately respond to MassLive's request for comment.
The decision to merge the services comes after Disney, which has controlled Hulu since 2019, finalized its complete ownership of Hulu by paying Comcast's NBC Universal nearly $439 million in July for its remaining stake.
In a positive third-quarter report , Disney saw revenues rise to $23.7 billion compared to $23.2 billion the previous year. Part of this success was an increase in Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, which grew by 2.6 million since the second quarter to a combined 183 million.
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