Disney’s combined Disney Plus and Hulu streaming app is on its way. As part of its fourth quarter earnings results, Disney announced that it will launch the new app in beta for bundle subscribers in December, with the official launch in early spring 2024.
“We remain on track to roll out a more unified one-app experience domestically, making expanded general entertainment content available to bundle subscribers through Disney Plus,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the company’s earnings call on Wednesday. “We expect Hulu and Disney Plus will result in higher engagement, greater advertising opportunities, lower churn and lower acquisition costs.”
Even as Disney implemented price increases for its streaming services in October, Disney Plus surpassed 150 million global subscribers this quarter, with streaming losses falling to $387 million. Disney still hasn’t forgotten its planned crackdown on password sharing. It’s still not clear when this will happen, but Iger noted that the “planned rollout” won’t have a “meaningful impact” on the streaming business until 2025.
The earnings beat is about a year since Iger took over as CEO from Bob Chapek, but Iger said during an earnings call Wednesday that he still has some cleaning up to do. “When I look back on our achievements over the past year, I take into account the fact that a lot of time and effort has been spent resolving certain decisions made in the recent past and addressing the numerous challenges that have been through disruption and the pandemic,” Iger said.
Disney has had a lot going on in recent months. Earlier this month, Disney announced it would buy Comcast’s 33 percent stake in Hulu for more than $8 billion, giving Disney full ownership of the streamer. It also struck a deal with Charter, allowing the cable company to bundle Disney Plus subscriptions with its Spectrum TV packages, while also paving the way for similar agreements.