Disney has finally paid the piper for Hulu. The company agreed to pay Comcast $439 million to finally complete the sale of its 33 percent stake in the streaming service.
The payment ends a years-long saga over Hulu with the two sides agreeing to a price. Back in 2023, Disney agreed to pay a floor of $8.61 billion for Comcast’s stake in Hulu, but both sides couldn’t agree on a final valuation, which led to the lengthy appraisal process these past two years.
Disney argued to get the floor price, while Comcast was arguing that Hulu’s value was much higher, to the tune of around $13 billion. That process is complete with the final price coming out closer to the $8.61 billion that Disney offered. This of course was mostly a money-issue. Disney has had a controlling stake in Hulu for a while, and was under operational control of the service. The completion of the deal will give Disney more options to fully integrate Hulu into its streaming offerings.
Here’s what Bob Iger had to say in a statement:
“We are pleased this is finally resolved. We have had a productive partnership with NBCUniversal, and we wish them the best of luck. Completing the Hulu acquisition paves the way for a deeper and more seamless integration of Hulu’s general entertainment content with Disney+ and, soon, with ESPN’s direct-to-consumer product, providing an unrivaled value proposition for consumers.”
Disney has already started implementing Hulu content into Disney+ back in 2023 and has expanded that initiative into 2024 and 2025. They’re saying that the full integration and acquisition of Hulu will be completed by July 24, 2025.
Disney acquired a controlling stake in Hulu back when they bought 21st Century Fox, but Comcast has always been the sticking point stopping them from fully controlling the streaming service.
For more on TV News, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.
That Hashtag Show
