Posted in: Disney+, Hulu, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: comcast, disney, disney plus, hulu

Disney+/Hulu One-App Beta Testing Begins; March 2024 for Full Rollout

Following CEO Bob Iger's heads-up last month, Disney has gone live with the beta test of its Disney+/Hulu one-app experience - here's a look!

As Disney and Comcast continue the process by which the former will end up buying out the latter's 33% ownership stake in Hulu – making The Mouse sole owner of the streaming service – Disney CEO Bob Iger is following through on his announcement from last month that an app that combines Hulu and Disney+ into a single experience will undergo a beta test run in December. "We remain on track to roll out a unified one-app experience domestically," Iger shared during the financial report, adding that the test launch in December would lead to an official launch in Spring 2024 – with the hope that it will lead to better engagement, stronger ad revenues, and overall lower churn. Well, it seems that today would be that day – with Hulu now a tile option on the Disney+ home screen as beta testing gets underway. Set to rollout big time in Msrch 2024, the "Hulu Hub" will highlight programming in a layout that differs from what Hulu users have been used to in the past, with parental controls being an important aspect of the combined app moving forward. As for the price tag? Subscriptions for the Disney+/Hulu combo kick in beginning at $10/month ($2 more than just The Mouse's streamer solo).

"The acquisition of Comcast's stake in Hulu at fair market value will further Disney's streaming objectives," said Disney in a statement last month when they made their intentions to fully acquire Hulu known. So what happens now? Each side hires an investment bank to determine the value of the streamer as it currently stands. If the two values are within 10% of each other, then the average of the two becomes Hulu's price tag – that's what The Mouse pays. But if they're not, a third investment bank comes in to do its own assessment – with Hulu's final price tag ending up being the average of the third investment bank's value and the one original value that's closest to the third bank's value. Early estimates have The Mouse paying anywhere from $9B-$19B to secure full ownership of the streamer. – though in its pre-assessment process filing, Disney submitted that it expects to pay $8.61B by December 1st. "While the timing of the appraisal process is uncertain, we anticipate it should be completed during the 2024 calendar year," added The Mouse with regard to the expected time frame for the transaction to be completed. The timing for the beta testing of the combined app and its Spring 2024 launch coincides with that timetable.

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