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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Disney is combining the Hulu app and the Disney+ app next year.
- Most Hulu content is available on Disney+ already, but not all – you still need the Hulu app for now.
- You’ll still be able to subscribe to Hulu and Disney+ as standalone services.
If you’re a Hulu user, you’ll likely be changing apps soon.
During today’s quarterly earnings results announcement, CEO Bob Iger said the company would be “fully integrating Hulu into Disney+,” meaning the standalone Hulu app will disappear sometime in 2026. Disney announced plans for a combined Hulu and Disney+ app back in 2023, with plans to unify the two by “March of next year” (2024), but that hasn’t happened yet.
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While most Hulu content is already available on the Disney+ app, some is only available in the Hulu app due to licensing restrictions. Additionally, content from third-party add-ons like Max and Showtime is also only available through the Hulu app, so you do still need the current Hulu app for now.
Hulu as a service isn’t going away. You’ll still be able to buy a standalone Hulu subscription and a standalone Disney+ subscription, but it’s clear the company is pushing bundles. Disney said the Hulu + Live TV service will technically be combined with Fubo, but both services will be marketed and sold separately.
In the same call, Disney also announced that it planned to stop reporting subscriber numbers (something Netflix has already done). It will still announce when it reaches milestone numbers, but will not provide regular updates.
While switching from one app to another might not seem like a big deal, there are likely some hidden ramifications to this change. One, some users get a free Hulu with ads thanks to their Spotify Premium subscription. Also, some users get a Spotify discount thanks to having a Hulu account — including some who have been grandfathered in when Hulu was a free streaming service. It’s not clear what will happen to those bundles; I’ve reached out for an explanation.
A new sports-centric streaming service that includes WWE
Disney also plans to launch a new standalone sports streaming service that’s available without a cable subscription. The ESPN streaming service will launch in August for $29.99 a month, or $35.99 a month if you bundle with Disney+ and Hulu.
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ESPN streaming will get you all content from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, and ESPN+, plus live content like Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Baseball, and College Football Primetime. Any game that airs on ABC (Disney owns ABC) will be available too — 47,000 live events a year in total. Disney announced today that this service will also stream all WWE premium live events in their entirety, including WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Money in the Bank, and more.
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