Disney Buys Out Comcast, Bringing Total Control Of Hulu Within Its Domain

TV & Film

Nov 4

Disney has recently announced that it has purchased Comcast’s remaining share in Hulu from NBC Universal at the tentative final cost of $8.61 billion, although the final amount will be determined after a forthcoming appraisal. The purchase makes Disney the sole owner of one of the longer-running streaming services in the industry, mainly known for television shows.

Disney was initially going to force Comcast to sell and Disney to buy Comcast by next year, however, upon mutual agreement of the parties, they have decided to speed up negotiations. The move by Disney appeared to have been foreshadowed by Disney’s announcement earlier this year that it would be launching an integrated Disney/Hulu app that would share content between the two streaming services, although the standalone Hulu app would remain available as well.

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Current Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that the app is "a logical progression" of the company's direct-to-consumer offerings "that will provide greater opportunities for advertisers while giving bundle subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content..." Meanwhile, Comcast is continuing to own and operate its streaming service, Peacock, which is also being offered for free for Xfinity subscribers.

In related news, the upcoming Marvel TV series, Echo, will be the first Marvel show to stream simultaneously starting on January 10th, although it will only be available to stream on Hulu until April 9th. All five episodes will drop at once on both platforms. It will also be the first Marvel series to feature both a deaf and Native American superhero.

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