Hulu’s days look numbered, but there’s reason for Disney to keep it around

Summary

"When we gave people an opportunity to have a more seamless experience between Disney+ and Hulu, we saw engagement increasing," Iger said today. "And we would hope that when we take this next step, which is basically full integration, that that engagement will go up even more." The initial integration of Hulu, which previously used a different tech platform than the 12-year- younger Disney+ app, required the reworking of "everything from login tools to advertising platforms, to metadata and personalization systems," as well as moving over 100,000 individual assets/artwork, The Verge reported in March. At the time, Disney said that it was still working on re-encoding all of Hulu's video files to work on Disney+ so that there could be one master library. The updated app coming in 2026 seems to be the end result of all of this work. Iger today also pointed to work around the app's recommendations, including what users see on the Disney+ homepage. Additionally, the app has added more streams, such as one that plays The Simpsons 24/7. The updated app also follows Disney's purchase of Comcast's remaining stake in Hulu. (Disney ended up paying about $9 billion for it, compared to the approximately $14 billion that Comcast wanted.) During today's earnings call, Iger said the updated user experience will help the profitability and margins of Disney's streaming business (which also includes ESPN+) by boosting engagement, reducing subscriber churn, increasing advertising revenue, and driving operational efficiencies. Hulu still has value It seems likely that Disney will eventually strive for everyone to subscribe to a beefed up Disney+ that incorporates stuff that used to be on Hulu. But there's also value in keeping Hulu around for a while. According to Disney's Q3 2025 earnings report [PDF], Hulu has 55.5 million subscribers. That makes Hulu less than half the size of Disney+ (127.8 million subscribers) but also means that ending Hulu subscriptions would put Disney at risk o...