Hulu’s Catch-22
Disney has acquired full control of Hulu by making a deal with the last remaining other owner, Comcast. With this deal, Hulu will eventually be fully owned by The Walt Disney Company.
Details of the Deal:
- Starting in 2024, either Comcast or Disney can require the sell of Comcast’s stake to Disney for the fair market value
- The value will be determined by independent experts, but Disney has guaranteed a minimum total value of H of $27.5 billion
- The amount that Hulu can raise through ownership capital investment is capped
- Further investment can be down through acquiring debt
- Disney agrees they will never dilute Comcast’s investment to be less than 21% prior to the sale
- NBCUniversal will license content to Hulu until late 2024
- Comcast will also distribute Hulu on its Xfinity X1
- NBCUniversal can end most of its content license agreements with Hulu in three years
- In one year, NBCUniversal can show programming that is currently exclusively licensed to Hulu on their own streaming platform which would reduce the fee that Hulu pays
What Does This Mean:
- Effectively, Disney takes full operational control of Hulu immediately
- Hulu can be integrated with Disney’s other streaming services (Disney+, ESPN+), while it is expected to remain its own service and brand
- While the services will remain separate, Disney can now offer discounts to households that subscribe to multiple offerings
- This deal removes some barriers for Disney to expand Hulu, particularly internationally
- Hulu would need to plan for life after NBCUniversal content is not available on the service
- Hulu ad sales can be fully integrated into Disney to combine it with ABC, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic
- For the first-time, Disney fans can subscribe to a live-TV service that is fully operated by The Walt Disney Company