The Walt Disney Co plans to take the Hulu Live service global, once its acquisition deal with 21st Century Fox is finalised. It was revealed during Disney’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call this week, along with plans to expand the streaming service’s original programming and possibly hike subscription prices.
Chairman and CEO Bob Iger said that once Disney’s $52.4 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s goes through, it will own 60% of Hulu, up from its existing 30% stake. While Disney plans to launch its own streaming service, Disney+, this time next year, it still plans to use 21CF’s film studios and television assets to beef up Hulu going forward.
“Given the success of Hulu so far in terms of subscriber growth and the relative brand strength and other things like demographics, we think there’s an opportunity to increase investment in Hulu notably on the programming side,” Iger said.
Iger also said that he sees some “pricing elasticity” with the service, which top out at $10 per month for the Hulu with Live TV package.