Today, Disney released its latest quarterly results for the fiscal first quarter of 2025. Disney’s Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box and revealed that the company is looking to simplify its streaming offerings in the future.

In the past year, we’ve seen Disney slowly bring together its streaming platforms closer together, especially with the launch of ESPN On Disney+ and Hulu On Disney+, allowing bundled subscribers to access everything through Disney+.

During the interview, Hugh was asked if there was potential for consumer confusion and where they are headed, to which Hugh replied:

Yeah, I think you’re going to see us make the product more and more focused over time. I think that your observation is very much a fair one, that there are often times so many options. It does lead to a bit of consumer confusion. So the direction of travel we’re heading in is how do we make this as easy and as simple as possible for consumers, particularly to bundle, because we think that’s where the best value is, and that’s where they can capture the broadest array of entertainment that we offer.

The way to think about Disney+ in the future, I think more than anything, is it’s going to be the portal into all things Disney and something you’re really going to want to turn on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, when you’re not watching CNBC, of course. But beyond that, we certainly feel like it delivers entertainment, it delivers news, it delivers sports. And in the future, may deliver many other things as well.

So I think you’re right. We’re going to be simplifying the service to just make it easier for consumers and make them want to do the broadest possible bundle. Simplify, meaning they’re all going to get combined. And, you know, it’s no longer a bundle. It’s I think that’s it. I think you’ll see less rather than more options in that regard. Because that’s what consumers are indicating to us. They want less confusion.

When asked about what the price of the combined offering will be, Hugh said:

Right now, I think we’ve got pricing that’s going to be in place probably for the next 12 months. I expect this is a product that will continue to increase in price gradually over the course of a number of years. And then, obviously, ESPN flagship, which is a much bigger and broader product, will bring its own separate pricing attached to it. But I think you’ll see pricing steadily increase, not dramatically increase.

Bringing together all of Disney’s content into one place is already working, currently, over half of all Hulu viewership is now happening within the Disney+ app, and this is likely only going to continue to grow. 

Internationally, Disney has already been merging its streaming services. Last summer, it merged Star+ and Disney+ together in Latin America. Disney has also been incorporating its general entertainment content in Disney+ internationally since 2021.

Roger’s Take: It’s no secret that I’ve been saying for years that Disney+ and Hulu need to merge.  Once Hulu On Disney+ was added to the platform and the deal with Comcast to buy out their remaining stake in Hulu was revealed, it felt like a when rather than an if since it makes no sense to run two streaming platforms.  Having one single platform means they can offer a simple product to compete with Netflix and Amazon.  Plus it brings the US in line with how Disney+ operates internationally. 

With the launch of ESPN Flagship later this year, which will be a premium add-on to Disney+, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if everything is in place to have Hulu merge into Disney+ sooner rather than later.  I also don’t think ESPN+ is going to be around too much longer.  Having a single platform as their core focus will save them a lot of money on many levels, such as development, technical, advertising and programming.

Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek has hinted that Hulu and Disney+ would merge, but this comment from the CFO is the clearest indication that it’s happening so far.

What do you think of Disney+ and Hulu eventually merging?  Let me know on social media!

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Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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