Disney Buying Comcast’s 33% Hulu Stake—Taking Total Ownership Of Streaming Service

Topline

Disney announced plans Wednesday to buy Comcast’s 33% of Hulu for more than $8 billion, a move that would give Disney complete ownership of the streaming service.

Disney announced Wednesday it will pay more than $8 billion for Comcast’s third of ownership of … [+] streaming service Hulu. (Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Key Facts

Disney will pay Comcast’s NBCUniversal around $8.61 billion by December 1, according to the company’s announcement, and the sale will “further Disney’s streaming objectives.”

The sale will go through an appraisal process, though, to determine Hulu’s final value as of September 30, with $27.5 billion being the guaranteed floor value for the streaming service—if Hulu is deemed more valuable, Disney may have to pay Comcast beyond the $8.61 billion.

Disney declined to comment beyond its press release to Forbes.

What To Watch For

In a May Disney earnings call, CEO Bob Iger didn’t go as far as saying Hulu and the Disney+ streaming platform would merge, but said the company was planning to offer a “one-app experience … that incorporates our Hulu content via Disney+,” by the end of the calendar year.

Big Number

48 million. That’s how many subscribers Hulu had as of the end of last year, according to previous Forbes reporting. Disney+ had more than three times that amount of subscribers, coming it at around 161.8 million.

Key Background

Disney assumed majority ownership of Hulu through its 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox, but even prior to the acquisition, Disney owned 30% of the streaming company. Disney and Comcast agreed in 2019 that Disney would take control of the platform and struck a deal that allowed NBCUniversal or Disney to initiate the sale as soon as January 2024, though that was later moved up to November 1. On that date, the deal allowed Disney to require NBCUniversal to sell its stake at fair market value and Comcast could require Disney to buy them out, according to Variety.

Tangent

Streaming services, including Hulu and Disney+, have been increasing their prices in recent months. Hulu raised its prices in August to $17.99 a month for an ad-free version, but it kept the price of its ad-based plan at $7.99, or $9.99 when bundled with Disney+. Earlier this month, Disney+ increased its subscription cost to $13.99 a month for the ad-free version.