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Disney currently owns approximately 70% of Hulu's capital, but its general manager, Bob Iger, today confirmed that preliminary discussions with Comcast on the purchase of the remaining 30% are underway. Commercially, this means that Disney could finally expand Hulu on the international territory without the participation of Comcast. In terms of content, the question of what Disney, 100% Hulu owner, means for the future of the content held by WarnerMedia (AT & T) and NBCUniversal (Comcast) on the platform.
Iger could not go into details, but based on the few answers he gave, there is a good chance that most of the subscriber's favorite shows will still be available on Hulu. Iger told investors that when WarnerMedia, owned by AT & T, sold its 10% stake in Hulu to Disney, the deal had specific conditions for licensed content and TV service channels. from Hulu. He went on to explain that part of this agreement meant "there was a continuing relationship with their products, including their channels." It could be the same with Comcast if the company were to sell its stake.
"You can expect that, if that happens, there would probably be an ongoing programming relationship," Iger said, adding, "I will not be more specific than that."
Divide the rights of television series and licensed movies on broadcast platforms such as Hulu or Netflix can become extremely confusing very quickly. It's also one of the most important conversations when it comes to streaming culture. People do not usually care about which company Hulu owns – but they certainly want to know if they can continue to watch Seinfeld or Futurama.
The best example is the friends enigma. friends started as a show on NBC, but its digital rights actually belong to WarnerMedia. WarnerMedia, now owned by AT & T, licensed friends Netflix for $ 100 million. Since the show belongs to WarnerMedia, AT & T has however forwarded the series to Netflix only until the end of 2019. Many journalists and experts have speculated that this series would give AT & T the possibility of streaming friends its streaming service directly to consumers in 2020. Why would Netflix spend $ 100 million on friends for only a year? As Todd VanDerWerff of Vox pointed out, the "evidence we have suggests that there is still a lot of old favorites watching" on Netflix. If the majority of subscribers spend hours watching friends, being the exclusive place to find the show is a wise business decision. It allows subscribers to watch Netflix friendsand stay for other original Netflix programs.
Iger treats Hulu in the same way. He wants to use licensed programming to satisfy the appetite of Hulu subscribers (as shown in the linked numbers above), while developing more original series. The CEO told investors: "We are optimistic about Hulu for a number of reasons, and we view it as the best consumer TV product."
Even Hulu has suggested that its proprietary programming is one of the reasons it has seen a growth in the number of subscribers. Data published in April 2018 revealed that 97% of the feeds broadcast by Hulu subscribers were licensed series, with 89% of Hulu subscribers viewing a licensed program first before viewing the originals. The strategy is to continue to invest in Hulu and develop more original content, said Iger, but also to use the legacy content of Fox, Disney, WarnerMedia and perhaps even NBCUniversal to attract and retain subscribers.
"We intend to take full advantage of the brand in traditional and new businesses," Iger said earlier. "FX has plenty of opportunities to produce more programming, especially for Hulu, as we seek to develop the streamer."
Disney executives have big plans for Hulu. It's the perfect counterpart to Disney +, the company's next streaming service that will remain family friendly. It's obvious that Disney wants to take full control of Hulu so they can do more with the service without having to collect Comcast data, as Iger said in his call of the day. It is also perfectly clear that Disney is working with companies such as Comcast and WarnerMedia to ensure that their content is still on Hulu, even if it is not the case as corporate entities.
"With Comcast, at the core, at 33% of homeowners, any major decision in the extension business should do it with their cooperation," Iger said. "We both share an optimistic view about Hulu, but we can not do it ourselves."
None of this is etched in stone. AT & T launches its own streaming service, as well as NBCUniversal. The agreements between Disney and the two companies on the licensed content remaining on the platform after the sale are unclear. The only concern Iger had with investors was whether Disney would lose an incredible amount of licensed content after buying WarnerMedia and Comcast, if that happened. Although he can not give details, Iger's discussion of ongoing channel and live content relationships seems to confirm that he is considering keeping programs like Seinfeld on the platform too.
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