Since Bob Iger returned as Disney's CEO in November 2022, he has been very open about his goal to ultimately to combine the two entertainment-focused streaming services under his company’s control into a single a single platform. While there are still hurdles left to jump through in order to make that happen, Disney took the first steps to unit Hulu and Disney+ one month ago, and according to a company executive, it has gone even better than Iger and company could have anticipated.

• Disney executives are pleased with the launch of its one-app experience beta test.
• The Hulu on Disney+ experience will launch in full in March, but it will be a while until the platforms are fully merged.
• Making it easier for customers to engage with a streaming service is the chief way to keep them subscribed.

In early December, Disney launched what it called a beta test of a “one-app” experience to bring a large portion of Hulu’s library to Disney+. Disney will have to wait at least until its purchase of Comcast’s 33% of Hulu is complete to completely merge the two platforms, but the company seems pleased by what it has seen so far. As reported by StreamTV Insider's Bevin Fletcher, during a fireside chat from LinkedIn on Thursday, Disney’s global advertising president Rita Ferro said that the integration of Hulu content on Disney’s flagship streamer “has far exceeded every metric we had planned for it in the short period of time that we’ve had it.”

Disney plans on launching the full version of the one-app experience in March, but the company is not yet ready to fully fold Hulu into Disney+. This current experiment is designed specifically for customers who subscribe to some form of the Disney Bundle that already provides them access to content from both services. By introducing a Hulu hub on Disney+, the company is attempting to remove obstacles for viewers who want to switch back and forth between titles on the services. By keeping them in the app, Disney+ is also minimizing the chances that consumers will switch out and watch something else.

Whether it is on an ad-supported or ad-free plan, the easier it is to keep viewers engaged with content on your service, the more likely they are to stay subscribed. Ferro noted on Thursday that engagement was one of the most important metrics that the beta test had exceeded.

“When you give (customers) the ability to discover that they have that content accessible in the experience they’re viewing it in, they spend more time on that content,” Ferro said.

When Will Hulu and Disney+ Officially Merge?

While Disney plans to expand the Hulu on Disney+ beta test in full in March, it will take a bit more time to completely collapse them into a single service. The first hurdle will be for Disney to complete the purchase of the remaining third of Hulu ownership currently controlled by Comcast. When the streamer initially launched, it was owned equally by Comcast, Disney, and 21st Century Fox. However, when Disney acquired the bulk of Fox's assets in 2019, it became the controlling owner of the service. In November 2023, Disney agreed to buy Comcast out of its Hulu shares for a minimum of $8.61 billion with independent financial experts ultimately determining the final value.

Even after Disney becomes the full owner of Hulu, there will still inevitably be contractual and regulatory delays to contend with, as licensing agreements for content were made specifically for Hulu and would need to be adjusted for titles to appear on Disney+ instead. Nonetheless, Ferro believes that having the libraries of both Hulu and Disney+ in one place will only enhance the viewing experience by making it easier to find more shows and movies to engage with.

“I definitely think consumers want to engage with content,” she said. “It’s discoverability of that content to allow you to find it, access it and spend time watching it and what that experience will feel like.”