Disney's Hulu Dance and Comcast is not dead yet

In a short time, consumers stopped saying "Destroy the cable TV package!" Instead of "OK, we miss it a bit". This offered Walt Disney Co. a lucrative opportunity: to create its own set of rival video applications. . The irony is that to get there, Disney needs the cooperation of Comcast Corp., the largest cable provider in the United States and one of its fiercest competitors.

Both companies share the ownership of Hulu, a streaming video platform that appears to Netflix. Disney is the majority owner and Comcast has a 30% interest. CNBC reported Thursday that Comcast was considering selling the stake to Disney and that both parties had had discussions, but that is not yet certain. The signing of an agreement is a crucial step for Disney CEO Bob Iger to complete his streaming strategy.

When Disney unveiled its Disney + app earlier this month, I explained that while it was a must for the "Star Wars" perverts and parents of young kids, its name revealed its biggest challenge. "Plus" means that it's a complementary service, and Disney has to convince enough consumers that it's worth paying $ 6.99 a month in addition to any other service they can subscribe to, namely Netflix, which is for many their streaming product. For Disney + to be successful and anchor a company accustomed to release $ 10 billion in profits a year, it must exceed the public. And with Hulu, it's starting to look like a more complete offer for more viewers.

AT & T Inc. recently sold its 9.5% stake in Hulu to the company for $ 1.43 billion, a valuation of $ 15 billion. AT & T did not need much conviction because it was looking for assets to sell. The company inherited Hulu's small stake in the Time Warner acquisition, along with a ton of debt.

But Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, has more benefits to weigh. In addition to financial considerations (ie whether Hulu will have more value now or later), it is clear that an agreement would mean giving Disney a significant competitive advantage. Like all traditional pay-TV services, Comcast's cable operations are in decline and are now focused on connecting Internet users in order to take advantage of the ramping up of streaming. Comcast announced 375,000 broadband Internet customers and lost 121,000 pay-TV customers. A Disney bundle would speed up the disappearance of the cable and put the company ahead of Comcast in streaming, which will not present its own product until next year.

On Thursday, during the Comcast earnings conference call, Roberts would not divulge his plans for Hulu, saying "We're really happy to own a lot of them."