Bad news, Hulu fans: Disney has plans to kill your app.
As Variety reports, the company announced the news during a quarterly earnings call on Wednesday. The plan? Fully absorb the Hulu experience into the Disney+ app. Why have two apps when you could have one? (Other than, of course, the fact that these are two separate services entirety.)
From Disney’s point of view, it’s a total win. By keeping Hulu and Disney+ in one app, both services can operate on one “tech platform.” That will, supposedly, save the company money, as well as improve the customer experience—at least, according to Disney. Plus, from a business perspective, the company can bundle ad sales for both Disney+ and Hulu. Get ready to see a lot of ads for these two services together.
What does this mean for Hulu subscribers?
Of course, most of us do not work for Disney, and do not directly benefit from the things that increase the profits of the company. What will impact you, if you’re a Hulu subscriber, is how Disney handles this merger of sorts.
First things first: This isn’t happening overnight. According to Disney, the new combined Disney+ and Hulu app won’t be available until 2026. Until then, you’ll be able to carry on business as usual.
What do you think so far?
Once the new app is here, and Disney shuts down the standalone Hulu app, you won’t be forced to subscribe to Disney+ just to watch Hulu as well. Disney says you’ll still be able to subscribe to Hulu by itself, even if you do have to use this combined app to watch it. You might be aware that you can already watch some Hulu content on Disney+, but it’s a much more limited experience than the one Disney is now pitching.
According to Variety, Disney plans to market Hulu + Live TV separately, as it combines the service with Fubo, another live TV service that focuses on live sports. That said, a Disney+ rep told Variety that there are plans for Hulu + Live TV to be folded into the Disney+ app at some time in 2026.
Any information on pricing?
Not at this time. Right now, you can bundle Hulu and Disney+ for $10.99 per month, or $19.99 for the mostly ad-free experience. One would hope that by bundling the services in one app, Disney plans to keep these services at this price. But as we’ve seen across streaming services, prices only continue to go up.
