One of the biggest items on Disney’s corporate to-do list this year was to complete its acquisition of Hulu. That process is now nearing completion, as Disney and Comcast have agreed to the sale parameters that will send Comcast’s 33% share of Hulu to Disney for at least $8.6 billion.
- Disney will begin the process of merging its two entertainment streamers together in December.
- CEO Bob Iger says the delay is intended to help parents set up controls so kids can’t access adult content from Hulu on Disney+.
- The merged experience will launch as a beta for Disney Bundle subscribers in December, and will officially be rolled out in spring of 2024.
When Will Disney+ and Hulu Be Available on the Same App?
Now that Disney+ and Hulu will be united under the same corporate banner, Disney is free to fully integrate Hulu’s content onto Disney+. Plans to do so were first announced by Disney this spring, and confirmed this week by Disney CEO Bob Iger during his company’s conference call to discuss its quarterly earnings report.
During the call, Iger confirmed that the company planned to launch its one-app Hulu and Disney+ experience by the end of this year. Users who are subscribed to both services will start to see the Hulu content tile on the Disney+ app next month, but Iger said there was an important reason for giving customers advanced warning instead of making Hulu on Disney+ available immediately.
“We expect that Hulu on Disney+ will result in increased engagement, greater advertising opportunities, lower churn and reduced customer acquisition costs thereby increasing our overall margins,” Iger said. “We will launch a beta version for bundled subscribers in December, giving parents time to set up profiles and parental controls that work best for their families ahead of the official launch in early spring 2024.”
Will Hulu’s Most Adult Content Now Be Available on Disney+?
Hulu isn’t migrating all of its content to its tile on Disney+ right away, but it’s a good bet that the streamer will bring some of its flagship shows to the shared app experience immediately. Shows like “The Bear,” “The Handmaid's Tale” and other Hulu originals feature strong language, violence, sexual content and nudity and other such content that parents likely don’t want to see alongside Disney+ shows like “Bluey” and “Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.”
Given that some titles featuring objectionable content are likely coming to Hulu on Disney+ right away, parents will need time to ensure their kids’ user profiles are specifically set up to screen less kid-friendly titles originating from Hulu.
How to Edit Disney+ Profiles to Ensure They Don’t Show Mature Content
If you’re a parent who’s thankful for the extra time from Disney+ because you haven’t needed to filter out objectionable content on the streamer until now, it’s incredibly easy to set parental controls on the service. Simply:
- Log into your Disney+ account.
- Navigate to the profile emblem at the top or bottom of the screen (depending on which device you use).
- Click “Edit Profiles.”
- Choose which profile you want to screen content on, and scroll down to the “Parental Controls” section.
- Select the content level you want that profile to be able to access, and set up a pin so it can’t be accessed without your knowledge.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”