There sure are a lot of streamers these days. Three of them are even owned by the same company: Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Sure, you can get them in a bundle, but it can be a bit of a hassle. What if you want to spend the evening watching The Bear, on Hulu, followed by the 1971 live-action Disney comedy Million Dollar Duck? You’d have to switch to a whole other streamer (Disney+, of course). If you’ve ever found yourself in this predicament, then we have good news for you.
As per Deadline, The Walt Disney Company is finally — finally! — merging Disney+ and Hulu into one single streamer. (Sorry, ESPN+, but you’ll remain on your own.) The change won’t happen any time soon. Company honcho Bob Iger says their new “one-app experience” (again, excluding ESPN+) will arrive later this year. There’s no word yet on what the streamer will be called, but let’s imagine it will be something like Husney or Dislu or maybe simply Max 2.
Iger broke the news at Disney’s second-quarter earnings call… when he also coincidentally announced that Disney+ lost some four million subscribers in the last few months. About 300,000 of those are from the U.S. and Canada. Hulu and ESPN+, meanwhile, gained 200,000 and 400,000 subscribers, respectively. Disney also saw its Parks, Experiences and Products, often the most profitable part of the company, climb 17 percent. So don’t shed a tear for Disney. They’re doing fine.
Or mostly fine: Disney recently enacted companywide layoffs, there’s a WGA strike that probably won’t be ending any time soon, and there’s Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who has decided it was smart to go after the biggest company in his state. But at least they appear to be winning that one.
(Via Deadline)