Disney Finalises Purchase Of Hulu From Comcast
Finally, after many years, Disney has finalised its purchase of Comcast’s 33% stake in Hulu, which means that Disney now has full ownership of Hulu.
This ends a long-standing deal between the two companies, which began when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, resulting in Disney getting a majority stake in the company. The two companies agreed to a deal that would allow either company to force Disney to buy out Comcast’s stake in Hulu.
Back in 2024, Disney and Comcast began negotiations to end the partnership, with Disney paying $8.61 billion for the remaining 33% stake of Hulu, based on a floor price valuation of Hulu at $27.5 billion. Comcast disputed the valuation, resulting in the two companies bringing in third parties to make a valuation.
Disney’s valuation came in at the floor price, while Comcast’s was billions over, resulting in another third party being brought in to finalise a deal.
It’s been announced that Disney has now finalised the deal, where it will pay Comcast an additional $438.7 million, on top of the $8.6 billion it previously agreed to. Which means the final valuation was only slightly above the floor price set back in 2019. According to Disney, the final equity fair value, which was completed on June 9th, 2025, takes into accountthe valuation of a third appraiser, which if it had been equal to or below the guaranteed floor value would have resulted in no additional amount payable to NBCU and if it had been consistent with the NBCU’s appraiser’s valuation would have resulted in an additional amount of approximately $5 billion payable to NBCU as its share of the difference between the equity fair value and the guaranteed floor value.
The deal is expected to be closed on or by July 24th 2025.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement regarding the deal:
“We are pleased this is finally resolved. We have had a productive partnership with NBCUniversal, and we wish them the best of luck. Completing the Hulu acquisition paves the way for a deeper and more seamless integration of Hulu’s general entertainment content with Disney+ and, soon, with ESPN’s direct-to-consumer product, providing an unrivaled value proposition for consumers.”
While Comcast also released a statement saying:
“Hulu was a great start for us in streaming that generated nearly $10 billion in proceeds for Comcast and created an important audience for NBCUniversal’s world-class content. We wish Disney well with Hulu and appreciate the cooperative way our teams managed the partnership.”
Due to this ongoing battle, Disney has been actively trying to reduce the value of the Hulu brand, by not launching it internationally, instead using the Star brand on Disney+ around the world. It’s very likely, I suspect, that the Star hub will be rebranded to Hulu, as Disney has already started using the Hulu brand on Disney+ in Canada in the past month.
Disney launched Hulu On Disney+ over 18 months ago in the United States, blending Hulu and Disney+ more closely together, so subscribers won’t notice the difference as much as how it’s likely that Disney+ and Hulu will eventually merge together, which I believe is what Iger is referring to, since it will drastically reduce costs, operating a single streaming service.
After covering Hulu and Disney+ for so many years, it will be a significant step forward when Comcast is no longer involved, and Disney can finally utilise the Hulu brand globally as its primary general entertainment hub. It could happen quickly, or Disney might stretch it out a little longer, but hopefully, Disney will be able to move forward with its streaming plans now, taking Disney+ off cruise control and finally unleashing a true competitor to Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Do you think Hulu and Disney+ will merge soon? Let me know on social media!
Roger Palmer
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