Disney+ & Hulu Tease Japanese Collaboration
Ever since Disney purchased 20th Century Fox and acquired a 66% stake in Hulu, there have been many questions about the future of the streaming platform. Especially, as earlier this year, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Hulu would soon be available within Disney+ in the United States as part of a new one-app experience.
Comcast still owns a 33% stake in Hulu, and Disney is expected to finalise a purchase of that stake, to take full control of the platform in 2024 as part of an agreement made between the two companies in 2019. Setting up a potential merger between Hulu and Disney+ in the United States at a later date, similar to how HBO Max/Discovery+ and Showtime/Paramount+ have merged recently.
And there has been lots of confusion about the future of Hulu, as recently Disney+ Hotstar in India added a new Hulu hub, which was quickly removed, potentially indicating that there is a plan to rebrand Star as Hulu as its general entertainment hub within Disney+.
Today, the official Japanese Disney+ Twitter account teased some changes are coming, sharing an image that Hulu Japan is now following the official account and Disney asking, Are You Ready?
And the official Japanese Hulu social media account followed suit:
What makes this social media tweet so interesting is that Disney doesn’t own Hulu in Japan; as it’s owned by Nippon TV, who brought the Japanese side of the business in 2014. Hulu in Japan includes licenced content from NHK, TBS Television, Fuji Television, and TV Tokyo, among others. Hulu in Japan currently has over 2 million subscribers in Japan.
It’s not really too clear what the social media posts are in reference to. Has Disney acquired Hulu in Japan, with a plan to merge it into Disney+ to boost its Japanese content? Is Disney planning on using the Hulu brand globally for its general entertainment brand? Or is it just a local deal to offer a streaming bundle?
Hopefully, we find out pretty soon, but Disney+ and Hulu are becoming much more interlinked globally.
What do you think is happening in Japan with Hulu and Disney+? Let us know on social media!
