The time has finally come. Since the first merger of STAR as its international replacement for Hulu originals on Disney+ in key markets, the company has finally decided to pay up the rest to take complete control of the streaming service. Disney will purchase the remaining share from Comcast for $8.61B and it seems they already have set their eyes on how to best utilize it.
In a statement, Disney CEO Bob Iger has highlighted their goal of establishing a unified app for the domestic market with a beta version already expected to launch in December. The official launch is set for Spring 2024 and it’s uncertain if this domestic rollout will also come with a new design for Disney+ moving forward.
We remain on track to roll out a unified one-app experience domestically.
Bob Iger
Out of all the apps, Disney+ would do good with a design overhaul, and integrating Hulu may be the best direction to take it instead of waiting out a redesign that is more costly down the line. One aspect of this move is also to ensure an increased engagement for the app and build up greater ad revenue and lower churn rate of viewers. So, we’ll get a better feeling of what the streaming future for Disney looks like once the beta is first revealed.
Source: Variety
