Disney Acquiring Hulu Stake From NBCUniversal; Will Gain Full Operational Control of Service in 2024
Disney is making a move to make a full purchase of Comcast/NBCUniversal’s stake in Hulu, giving them full control over the streaming service.
As recounted by The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has chosen enter a plan to shell out at least $8.61B to get Comcast’s 33% stake in the streaming service. Comcast triggered the move, on schedule, in time for 2024, by forcing them to make the purchase. Disney could have asked them to sell their Hulu shares to someone else, but they found it more advantageous to make the purchase. Disney issued the following statement:
“The acquisition of Comcast’s stake in Hulu at fair market value will further Disney’s streaming objectives. While the timing of the appraisal process is uncertain, we anticipate it should be completed during the 2024 calendar year.”
Initially proposed as a joint venture between News Corp/Twenty-First Century Fox, NBCUniversal, and Providence Equity, Hulu’s stock changed hands when Disney and Time Warner made moves to buy shares in the company. Providence and Time Warner sold their stocks, and the Disney-Fox merger meant that the company now had a majority upon its completion, leaving NBCUniversal owning a minority stake. Over four and a half years ago, NBCUniversal expressed interest in selling their stake in Hulu while pursuing development of Peacock, a streaming service of their own – and now they are honoring that agreement.
The budget for the purchase can go higher, as the figured Disney provided is the minimum based on Hulu’s valuation at $27.5B. The appraisal process might indicate that 33% shares could be more valuable than that, giving a debt-ridden Comcast some financial relief, and NBCUniversal more resources for streaming after Peacock has struggled to catch on. Disney, in the meantime, could potentially set the stage to merge Disney Plus and Hulu into one large service, which could potentially reduce streaming costs while getting Disney Plus closer to profitability and increasing their library of content. Otherwise, Disney could continue keeping the services separate and continue receive two revenue streams instead of just one. What they do with the majority stake, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
