Posted in: Disney+, Hulu, streaming, TV | Tagged: bob iger, disney plus, hulu, streaming

Disney CEO Bob Iger Warming Up to Owning Hulu; "Cordial" Comcast Talks

During today's earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger sure sounded like he's warming up to the idea of buying out Comcast's stake in Hulu.

Published Wed, 10 May 2023 18:35:10 -0500

by Ray Flook

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What a difference three months makes when it comes to The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger and the future of Hulu. "I mentioned on the first earnings call that I did [in February] when I came back that everything was on the table, and in fact, everything was on the table. I've now had another three months to really study this carefully and figure out what is the best path for us to grow this business," Iger shared during today's earnings call. Translation? The Mouse has had "cordial" and "constructive" discussions with Comcast about buying out the latter's 1/3 stake in the streamer (with the estimated buyout expected to be a minimum of $9 billion). Iger's comments came during the same earnings call when it was confirmed that Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu will all be under one app by the end of the year. And while he made it clear that a final decision is still in play, Iger acknowledged that having Hulu under Disney's streaming banner is a long-term benefit.

"It has not yet been fully determined what's going to happen," Iger cautioned. "It's clear that a combination of the content that's on Disney+ with general entertainment is a very strong combination, from a subscriber perspective, from a customer acquisition and retention perspective, and also from an advertiser's perspective." But for now, Iger is keeping the public discussions about Hulu's future on "bigger picture" terms. "How that ultimately unfolds is to some extent in the hands of Comcast and in the hands of a conversation and negotiation that we have with them," Iger explained. "I don't want to be in any way predictive in terms of when or how that ends up. I can say we've had some conversations with them already, and they've been cordial, and they're aimed at being constructive."

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