What You Need to Know About the Hulu and Disney+ Merger
Last week Disney+’s CEO Bob Iger announced that it would merge its app and Hulu’s into a “one-app experience” during a Q2 earnings call with investors. While no specific date has been announced for the merger, it is believed to happen in late 2023.
With so much bundling news, let’s untangle what we know about this merger and what users can expect from Disney+ and Hulu combined catalogs.
Why bring Hulu and Disney+ together?
In short, the merger equates to more content and fewer streaming subscriptions to keep track of.
Iger noted that the merging of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ “is the logical progression of our D2C offerings that will provide greater opportunities for advertisers while giving bundle subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content, resulting in greater audience engagement and ultimately leading to a more unified streaming experience.”
Disney+ and Hulu: Merged Catalog Overview
Combined, Hulu and Disney+ will boast a catalog containing 4,780 tv shows and movies, with Hulu significantly beefing up the number of TV shows offered by the new platform, with only 55 of those titles overlapping.
This merger will nearly double the amount of content offered to audiences.
Catalog Depth: Disney+ vs. Hulu vs. Merged Catalog
When the two platforms merge, audiences can expect an offering more aligned with Hulu’s current platform. Drama, Action & Adventure, and Comedy are the top three genres.
Interestingly, Animation currently ranks at only 5% of Hulu’s offerings, while it’s a whopping 24% of Disney’s. When the two merge, Animation will rank fifth behind Documentary.
TV Catalog Quality: Disney+ vs. Hulu vs. Merged Catalog
While Disney+ has had great success with both their Marvel and Stars Wars franchise spinoff series, for the most part, their “high quality” television programming—which is viewed as a television show rated 8.0 on IMDB with 300+ votes—is relatively small compared to the rest of their catalog.
While Hulu has nearly three times the catalog that Disney+ does, when it comes to “high quality” programming, the platform boasts almost the same percentage as the House of Mouse, leaning on shows like The Great and Only Murders in the Building and Fox, ABC, and FX content like Abbott Elementary, The Bear, and Atlanta to bolster their cachet.
So, when it comes to combining the two, in terms of TV catalog quality, while together, the new platform will boast 1,146 shows, less than one-third are high-quality, which will be a slight difference for each platform separately.
Movie Catalog Quality: Disney+ vs. Hulu vs. Merged Catalog
When it comes to movie catalog quality, Disney+ has Hulu beat. After all, Disney has Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars in their catalog. While recent hits like Prey and Palm Springs have helped bolster Hulu’s reputation for producing noteworthy original content, Hulu still only boasts a paltry 82 high-quality movies.
The platforms will increase their quality movie catalog but will still have nearly half a catalog of non-ranked movies.
What will it cost?
The cost remains unknown for now. What we do know is how much the Disney bundle currently costs:
Plan: Hulu + Disney+ Duo Basic with Ads
Cost: $9.99/month
What you get:
- Thousands of shows, movies, and Originals on Disney+ and Hulu
Plan: Hulu + ESPN+ Disney+ Trio Basic with Ads
Cost: $12.99/month
What you get:
- Thousands of shows, movies, and Originals on Disney+ and Hulu
- Live sports and Originals on ESPN+
Plan: Hulu + ESPN+ Disney+ Trio Premium No Ads on Disney+ & Hulu
Cost: $19.99/month
What you get:
- Thousands of shows, movies, and Originals on Disney+ and Hulu
- Live sports and Originals on ESPN+ (With Ads)
- Downloads to watch on-the-go
When will the merger happen?
By the end of 2023.
