Here I was, eagerly waiting for new Doctor Who specials to make Disney Plus their new home, only to come across the alarming discussion about Bob Iger ending the streamer’s existence for good. Has being Marvel’s permanent home finally taken its toll?
It all started with Disney announcing that it will be soon merging Disney Plus with Hulu to roll out the “one app experience” Bob Iger talked about back in May 2023. It has finally hit the floor, with both streamers — and their content — getting unified under one streaming service.
So, is Disney Plus really going away? Or is Hulu marked for slaughter?
Marvel’s continued streaming miscalculations (except Loki and maybe Moon Knight), and its eyesores like Thor: Love and Thunder being a permanent fixture on Disney Plus have not been a good look for the streamer. And even though it lost a lot less in 2023’s Q4 than the $1.4 billion in 2022’s last quarter, the losses still crossed $300 million. But despite the fluctuation, the Mouse has no plans to shut down the streamer when the current official proceedings are taken into account.
The planned merged experience is yet to worm its way into reality as Disney has not finalized its deal with Comcast to buy out its one-third stake in Hulu — a deal of $8 billion has been offered, and Comcast has already collected the first of its many upcoming big checks from the Mouse House to make the latter the sole owner of Hulu’s content.
In preparation for the same, Disney first debuted the new dual bundle of Disney Plus and Hulu (that needed the download of two separate apps) whose ad-supported version costs $9.99/month, while the one not testing your patience with advertisements comes at $19.99/ month.
The combined app was then launched in a beta capacity in the United States on Dec. 6, 2023, and is set to be followed by a proper, official launch next year — specifically, in March 2024. So, the ones who purchased the above-mentioned bundle will be getting the offer to subscribe to the unified app first, which will just be an updated version of the existing Disney Plus app — no new app will be replacing it. For now, the “one-app experience” will only house the two streaming services in one place, allowing you access to both at the same time.
But seeing that this temporary union is not exactly seamless, how about we draw up a mini checklist to simplify things for every current Disney Plus, Hulu, or bundle subscriber?
- The merger is only available to U.S. viewers who hold the subscriptions of both streamers.
- A massive chunk of Hulu content is now available on Disney Plus, which means the adorable I Am Groot now shares space with FX’s chaotic The Bear, and the turbulent lives of The Kardashians.
- So, can you just kick off the Hulu app? Hold your horses, because as I mentioned above, not everything Hulu is on Disney Plus yet — like Love Island — and they will not be added after the full launch either. This also includes content available on the channels under Hulu + Live TV.
- Just because many Hulu shows will be sharing Disney Plus’ extended dormitory of content, it doesn’t mean the original host of the titles will be keeping track of where you left off a specific show on the Mouse’s namesake streamer. Eg. if you start watching American Horror Story season 7, don’t expect to see Ally’s horrified face waiting for you on Hulu because you stopped watching it right when Ivy’s unhinged deception was revealed on Disney Plus.
- Though some titles (like Marvel’s Echo) overlap between the two, the streamers have separate libraries.
- Eventually, Disney Plus also intends to appear on Hulu, but for now, the plan is only on paper.
For now, there are no plans in place to erase either streaming service from existence and the new version will only exist to allow viewers to toggle between the two with ease and of course, to let Disney expand its advertising revenue.
