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Disney Is Buying Hulu In A Deal With Comcast

Mickey's empire is growing bigger by the day.

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Disney and Comcast have agreed to give Disney full control of Hulu as it buys out Comcast's stake in the streaming platform.

Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, we know that the deal was made alongside Comcast, which owned 33 percent of the streaming service since Disney purchased Fox in 2019. According to Disney CEO Bob Iger, "The acquisition of Comcast's stake in Hulu at fair market value will further Disney's streaming objectives."

Disney boss Bob Iger has been noncommittal on his company's plans regarding its Hulu investment, with some on Wall Street suggesting Disney may buy out Comcast's stake or sell its own stake in the Netflix rival. Now, however, Disney is moving to take over the brand entirely.

An appraisal of the streaming platform's valuation is expected to conclude sometime in 2024, which will then inform Disney of how much it will cost to fully acquire Hulu, though a guaranteed minimum valuation means it will cost at least $9 billion.

Among hundreds of other offerings, Hulu notably hosts the FX streaming library, produces originals like The Handmaid's Tale, and recently shared the debut of the Goosebumps reboot, which also arrived on Disney+.

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shadow6323

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Edited By shadow6323

Don't see the CMA wasting their time trying to argue or push against this one.

Weird.

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HOLYSHMUCK

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Edited By HOLYSHMUCK

People people people, Disney has almost basically owned Hulu for almost half a decade now. This is just finalizing it by getting the other 33% stock they needed.

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CyrezEraser

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yay more monopolies, just what we needed

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YukoAsho

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@cyrezeraser: You say that, but it's not like there's not already multiple services. Hell, since Disney bought out 20th Century Fox, we've seen several pop up. If anything, this seems to be cleaning up a conflict for Comcast, since they own Peacock.

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YukoAsho

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Because the FOX purchase wasn't enough of a disaster for Disney. Not sure what they can do with Hulu, aside from folding the content into Disney+ and shuttering the brand.

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dmdcsm

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Edited By dmdcsm

@YukoAsho: I think you just hit the nail on the head

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YukoAsho

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@dmdcsm: It just seems like such a bad move. Disney's already struggling to find profit off the 20 Century Fox deal, and there's a lot more competition in the streaming realm than there was even four years ago. I'm just not sure what Disney gains from this.

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Ives74

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@YukoAsho: It's my understanding that Disney is legally obligated to buy out those shares as part of a prior agreement. But regardless you're right, their plan is to absorb Hulu and make all of it a part of Disney+. As for what they stand to gain? I think it's more opportunies to squander a massive investment. I just can't help being pessimistic about anything they do.

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YukoAsho

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@ives74: Squandering seems to be the operative word here. Is there a ton of stuff on Hulu that isn't elsewhere already? The fragmentation of the streaming services is getting harder to keep up with.

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