What We Do and Don’t Know About Full Integration of Disney+ and Hulu on Single App

Suddenly the final week of March is here, which means that Disney has just a few days left to follow through on its promise that it would end the testing phase of the Hulu on Disney+ experience. Disney first launched Hulu on Disney+ in December as part of a public beta test, and said at the time that the full experience was coming to customers in March 2024. Disney+ has already changed the color of its app icon from blue to teal to reflect the change, so in anticipation of the eventual integration, The Streamable is running down all of the details we do — and don’t — have about the official launch of Hulu on Disney+ in the next few days.

• Even once the beta test ends, Disney+ will not carry 100% of titles that viewers will find available on Hulu.
• It’s not clear yet if Disney+ will ever integrate a viewer’s Hulu watch history.
• Viewers can sign up to stream Disney+ and Hulu together for as little as $9.99 per month.

So is the changed color of the Disney+ app to reflect the integration of Disney+ blue with Hulu’s green the only change that viewers will take note of once the Hulu on Disney+ beta ends? Probably not, even if The Streamable doesn't expect the user interface of the full experience to be remarkably different. Keep reading to learn everything we know for sure about the complete Hulu on Disney+ launch, and what facts the company has kept close to the vest to this point.

What We Know About Hulu on Disney+’s Full Launch

If I subscribe to Disney+, Will I Automatically Get Hulu Content?

From the beginning, the Hulu on Disney+ experiment has been referred to as a “one-app experience” meaning that it would bring together content from both streamers into a single platform. This is very different than Hulu being folded into Disney+. So, while a considerable portion of the Hulu library will be available on Disney+, it is only to be available to those customers who subscribe to some form of the Disney Bundle.

Therefore, if you currently only subscribe to Disney+, some rare exceptions potentially notwithstanding, you will not see any increase in titles. However, it is very easy to upgrade your subscription to include some element of the bundle, and it is far more affordable than adding a second subscription on its own.

Will Hulu on Disney+ Offer All Hulu Titles?

Many of the most popular Hulu titles like “Fargo,” “The Bear” and the new hit series “Shōgun” can be streamed on Disney+ now, but the combined experience will not offer all titles available on Hulu even after the official end of the beta test. This is because some of the licensing agreements that allow Hulu to stream certain titles include language preventing them from streaming on another platform too. This is especially true for shows that stream the day after they air on broadcast and cable channels that Disney does not own.

Disney will have to negotiate with individual studios that licensed this content to Hulu in order to expand existing deals, or come to terms on completely new ones, in order to stream those titles on Disney+. Some companies may refuse permission or ask for a bigger fee before allowing their shows and movies to stream on Disney+. Those conversations have undoubtedly been ongoing since even before the beta test began, but there is no guarantee that any agreements have been made. So, for now, what non-Disney-owned content (if any) will come to Disney+ from Hulu is unclear.

Is the Hulu Standalone App Shutting Down?

No, for the time being at any rate. Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed back in December that Hulu would continue to be a standalone app for the time being. In part, this arrangement is compelled by the fact that Disney doesn’t technically own all of Hulu quite yet. It is still in the process of purchasing the remaining one-third of the streamer from Comcast, and although it has shelled out $8.6 billion for that stake of the company so far, it could still end up owing a bit more once the sale process is complete.

But a few years down the line, The Streamable wouldn’t be surprised to see Disney sunset the Hulu app in order to cut down on back-end costs and redundancies. Of course, this too would require some massaging of contracts as existing licensing agreements are almost uniformly Hulu-specific. However, should Disney be looking long-term, renewals of those deals could build in contingencies to allow the content to migrate to Disney+ should Hulu be shuttered.

Can You Avoid Adults-Only Content within Hulu on Disney+?

Yes, Disney+ makes it easy to set parental controls to prevent kids from seeing content within the Hulu tile on Disney+ that has too much violence, foul language or risqué imagery. One of the reasons Disney created an extended beta test for Hulu on Disney+ was to allow parents plenty of time to set up parental controls to their liking.

How Much Will Hulu on Disney+ Cost?

Audiences can snag the Disney Duo Basic Bundle of ad-supported Hulu and ad-supported Disney+ for just $9.99 per month. This will give you complete access to the Hulu on Disney+ experience when it launches, and so far, Disney has not indicated that any type of price increase is coming once the full experience is rolled out to customers.

What We Don’t Know About Hulu on Disney+’s Full Launch

Which Titles Specifically Won’t Be Available on Hulu on Disney+?

The Streamable has reached out to Disney for a full list of titles that will only be available on Hulu when the finished Hulu on Disney+ experience launches, but as of publication, we have not received a reply. Hulu has thousands of titles available and itemizing a complete list of titles that will and won’t be available on Disney+ would likely require some hefty digging.

Therefore, we aren’t completely certain which shows and movies will be left off of Disney+ when the beta ends.

Will Customers Be Able to See Their Hulu Watch Histories on Disney+?

The answer is no for the present, but this is also one of the changes that could be seen once the full version of Hulu on Disney+ is available to the public. Showing customers their watch histories allows viewers to stop thinking about what they want to watch and get to streaming more easily, so it would make plenty of sense for Disney to make this feature available on Disney+.

There’s no official word from the company one way or the other to say if this will happen or not, but the main hangup would be the technological limitations of importing data from one app to the other, especially if customers continue using both on a regular basis. Since Disney does not yet fully own Hulu, and the streamers were built in much different ways, the backends of each likely do not directly overlap, making it difficult for them to seamlessly integrate.

Will Hulu + Live TV Channels Ever Reach Disney+?

The Hulu app also houses Hulu + Live TV, the live TV streaming service that allows customers to watch favorite cable channels like CNN, ESPN, FX, TNT, and many others. As of now, there are no plans to integrate Hulu + Live TV with Disney+, and it’s unknown if the app will ever support live-streaming channels. That would require significant technical overhauling by Disney engineers, but not making such a move would mean viewers who have Hulu + Live TV have to bounce between apps, especially if the ultimate plan is to move all of Hulu’s on-demand titles to Disney+.

Would this mean that the current version of Hulu eventually becomes a live TV streaming service exclusively? That is unclear, but it is possible if Disney wants to keep all of its on-demand content on one streamer, separate from its linear cable replacement.

Currently, Hulu + Live TV also includes the Disney Bundle in its $76.99 subscription price, so allowing viewers to watch live TV channels through the Disney+ app would make sense if they decide to merge everything into a single platform. Unfortunately at this point, it’s simply unknown if Disney has any plans to make Hulu + Live TV on Disney+ available.

Will the Disney Bundle Continue to Look the Same?

It’s entirely possible that Disney could continue to tinker with its bundle once Hulu on Disney+ exits its beta test and officially launches. If Disney+ and Hulu are ever completely merged and the Hulu app is sunset, that would obviously mean big changes are coming to the bundle.

Then there is the question of ESPN+; Disney has ambitious sports streaming plans going forward, including the launch of standalone ESPN streaming service and a joint venture streaming platform with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery. Those moves could consign ESPN+ to the dustbin, or, ESPN+ could remain as is with the full version of the ESPN cable networks available on a higher tier.

Another option is that the current version of the app is folded into a single platform alongside Disney+ and Hulu. These tantalizing unknowns will simply have to wait for time to answer them, but myriad possibilities exist.