Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney, which is in the home stretch of swinging the deal to become the full owner of Hulu, will launch a beta test of an app next month that combines Disney+ and Hulu into a single experience, CEO Bob Iger said.
Disney still needs to close its deal with Comcast to buy out NBCUniversal’s 33% stake in Hulu. In a filing last week, Disney said it would pay at least $8.61 billion to Comcast for the Hulu stake, with the final price tag — which could be much higher — to be based on an assessment of Hulu’s market value by each parties’ bankers. “We remain on track to roll out a unified one-app experience domestically,” Iger said on the Mouse House’s earnings call for the September quarter.
A beta version of the Disney+/Hulu app will launch in December — giving parents time to set up parental controls, according to Iger — ahead of the official launch in spring 2024.
The company expects Hulu on Disney+ to result in increased engagement, greater ad revenue and lower churn, Iger said. Iger’s comments come after he announced earlier this year that the company was prepping a “one-app experience” in the U.S.
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