Disney still working toward shutting down the Hulu app
Disney still working toward shutting down the Hulu app
A new report indicates that, despite protests from the company, the Hulu app is not long for this world.
What is Disney planning to do with the Hulu app? The company has sent mixed messages in the past nine months. Last August, Disney announced that Hulu would be fully integrated into Disney+ by the end of 2026, leaving no further need for a standalone Hulu app. More recently, Disney officials have said there are no plans to shut down the app at this time, but a new report indicates the House of Mouse still doesn’t see Hulu as a permanent standalone service.
Key Details:
- Still on the way out: An internal document shows that Disney still plans to shut down the Hulu app.
- Not right away: The app is likely to stay active through the end of 2026.
- Big changes: Disney+ subscribers can now import their profile from Hulu.
A report from Business Insider indicates that Disney is still actively working toward the eventual sunset of the Hulu app. An internal Disney streaming document obtained by BI outlines the multi-phase combination of Hulu’s content with the Disney+ app, internally known as “Project Gemini.”
The document specifies that once all subscribers have been transitioned from the Hulu app to Disney+, “the Hulu tech stack and app will be decommissioned.” Its timeline for carrying out this mission states that the company plans to be finished by the end of 2026.
In addition, three high-ranking Disney tech workers told BI that the company is moving resources away from Hulu, and that the service is on “life support, with no active development.” Clearly, the company doesn’t see the standalone Hulu app as long for this world.
There was reason to speculate about the ultimate fate of the Hulu app earlier in May, when Disney announced that Hulu customers could begin migrating their profiles to the Disney+ app if they had subscriptions to both services. At that time, the company announced that there were no current plans to shut down the Hulu app.
There certainly appear to be future plans to dismantle the app, however. The ability to shift profiles from Hulu to Disney+ is spreading to more bundle subscribers in the United States, and it appears that once Disney gets enough viewers to make the move, it will be saying goodbye to the Hulu app after all.
Hulu
Hulu is a video streaming service that gives access to thousands of full seasons of exclusive series, hit movies, kids shows, and Hulu Originals like “Only Murders in the Building,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”