Despite NBCUniversal’s 33% ownership of Hulu, Disney is officially taking over operational control of the streaming service, effective immediately.
In return, Disney and Comcast have entered a “put/call” agreement, which means Comcast can require Disney to buy NBCUniversal’s portion of Hulu or Disney can require NBCUniversal to sell that portion as early as January 2024.
Comcast also agreed to extend the Hulu license of NBCUniversal content and the Hulu Live carriage agreement for NBCUniversal channels until late 2024 and to distribute Hulu on Xfinity X1. (In three years, NBCUniversal will be able to terminate those license agreements.)
Disney taking over Hulu is especially interesting in light of Disney’s own streaming service, Disney+, looming on the horizon and set to launch this fall. Based on comments from this morning’s Disney Upfront Experience conference call, it seems like the company plans to put family-friendly content from its various channels on Disney+.
Photo: Hulu
