This year, Disney+ and Hulu will merge into a single app

Disney+ and Hulu equals Disnulu?

Somebody could conceivably concoct a preferable name over that, yet toward the finish of 2023, there will be another streaming application joining the libraries of Disney+ and Hulu, Disney Chief Bounce Iger uncovered during an income call the previous evening.

Customers will still be able to sign up for Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN+ alone, according to Iger’s clarification. With Disney+ and Hulu’s selection of movies and television shows, the new app will, however, provide a “one-app experience” in the United States.

Given that Disney owns 67% of Hulu, the move seems somewhat logical. “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,” Iger characterized the “local progression” of Disney’s consumer offerings as.

Star, which combines Disney+ content with content from other Disney properties like FX Networks and Freeform, is already available outside of the United States.

According to report, Comcast owns 33% of Hulu and has a deal that allows it to sell that share to Disney in 2024 for its “fair market value.” Disney stated that it would “love” to completely own Hulu before 2024 under the previous CEO, Bob Chapek.

Iger responded that any final deal is in Comcast’s hands “to some extent” when asked by Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar if the new app will assist Disney in changing Hulu’s “cost structure,” including by “dropping content spending or the number of titles on Hulu.” He added that Disney has had “constructive” discussions with Comcast about selling Hulu.

Disney’s decision to combine its properties coincides with the merging of other previously distinct streaming services. On May 23, the world will meet Max, a mix of HBO Max and Discovery+. Amazon is looking to license its original movies and shows, and HBO Max shows are ending up on Roku and Tubi, both of which are examples of streaming services becoming more transparent about sharing their content with other platforms. Unifying programs appears to be one strategy streaming companies are employing in an effort to satiate and retain subscribers because users are becoming dissatisfied with having to manage a large number of streaming service subscriptions in order to locate the content they want to watch.

Greater cost, less expensive library

During Wednesday’s, Iger likewise uncovered that Disney+’s promotion complementary plan will see a cost climb in 2023.

In addition, Disney intends to reduce its overall content spending, with the majority of the reductions anticipated in 2024 and 2025. Disney+’s programming, according to the CEO, is not driving subscriber growth. In the meantime, marketing for big, potentially lucrative projects like Avatar: The Method of Water, The Little Mermaid, and Gatekeepers of the Cosmic system, has been extended far.

Disney executives do not believe that people will cancel if prices are increased for Disney+. The company’s ad-free subscription prices went up by $3 in 2022, but the damage wasn’t too bad, according to reports.

“We were pleasantly surprised that the loss of subs due to what was a substantial increase in pricing for the non-ad-supported Disney+ product was de minimis,” Iger said. “It was some loss, but it was relatively small. That leads us to believe that we, in fact, have pricing elasticity.”

Since the fourth quarter of 2022, Disney+ has lost 4 million subscribers, with losses totaling approximately 300,000 in the United States and Canada.

Disney multiplying down on a less expensive library and a cost climb for no promotions might be a hard sell, as watchers as of now have many on-request libraries to browse. Given the questions regarding the value of Disney+’s library and the numerous options available to users, including free ones, it may be harder to persuade people to pay more for a smaller-budget library without ads in a few months.