Comcast has an important decision upcoming that could change the media landscape. According to CNBC, the media giant is considering selling its 30% stake in Hulu to Disney because of a frustrating run as partial owner of the video streaming platform.
The news comes about a week after AT&T and Hulu announced that the telecom giant had sold its 9.5% stake in Hulu back to the company, with the deal putting a $15 billion valuation on Hulu.
In terms of Comcast and Hulu’s relationship, Comcast had always been barred from having say in Hulu’s direction, but, in recent years, the company has been more active after a consent from 2011 expired in 2018. Whether due to a contentious relationship or otherwise, once Comcast became more involved, 21st Century Fox agreed to sell its 30% stake in Hulu to Disney, which put Comcast back in a position of silence on direction. Per CNBC, with the new deal, rather than being an equal owner with Fox and Disney, Comcast now owns a minority stake in Hulu to Disney’s 60%.
Considering Comcast has already announced plans for their own streaming service to start in 2020, the potential possibility to sell its 30% stake in Hulu makes some sense.