Disney has announced plans to integrate its two popular streaming platforms, Hulu and Disney+, into a single application by the end of the current year, as revealed by Disney’s CEO Bob Iger during the company’s Q2 earnings call.
The merger of the two services will offer a singular streaming app that includes content from both Hulu and Disney+. However, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ will continue to be available as standalone services. Initially, the unified app will be made available to subscribers of the Disney+ and Hulu bundle, enabling them to access all their favorite content from one place, rather than toggling between two apps.
“The integrated app experience that we announced today is for consumers that have subscribed to both services for now,” Iger clarified. He added that this consolidation of the two-app bundle into a single, enriched experience would offer “basically more content than it offered before.”
In line with the merging of the services, Disney also plans to increase its pricing. “We plan to set a higher price for our ad-free tier later this year,” Iger declared.
This strategic move by Disney comes in the wake of the loss of four million subscribers from the Disney+ service during the last quarter.
