Disney/ZDNET
If you’re a Disney+ subscriber, you might notice a pretty big change in the next few months. When you go to pull up Bluey
or The Mandalorian, you might have to scroll past Only Murders in the Building and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Even though Disney purchased most of Hulu back in 2019 (it acquired the remaining 33% from Comcast just last week), the two streaming services have lived in different apps. That’s changing soon though, as Disney+ and Hulu are set to be combined into one app.
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Disney CEO Bob Iger made that announcement during the company’s quarterly earnings call this week. The goal, he said, is to have a “one-app experience on Disney+” by March of next year.
But, a beta version of the combined app could start showing up for some users as early as next month. That’s to give parents a little time, Iger said, to figure out parental control settings now that Hulu’s more adult-oriented content will appear right alongside Disney’s.
The combined app is intended for people who subscribe to both services, and Disney hasn’t clarified if the standalone apps of each service will remain, or if the app with both will be the only option going forward. If the latter is true, that might not sit well with some subscribers who only want to pay for one service.
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At present, no details are available on what the new combined service will cost, but Disney does offer a “Duo Basic” subscription that includes both Hulu and Disney+ for $9.99 a month with ads and $19.99 a month in separate apps. It’s likely the new service will be priced similarly.
Of course, the ultimate goal here for Disney is increased revenue. Iger pointed out during his conference call that “where we bundle, we lower churn (or people leaving the service).” And while this does simplify things for people who subscribe to both services, streaming services bundling together is starting to look an awful lot like the cable services everyone kicked to the curb.