In September 2022, former Disney CEO Bob Chapek revealed plans to merge his company’s streaming platform Disney+ with Hulu, which it co-owned with Comcast. Though Chapek was ousted from the company a few months later, his replacement Bob Iger seems keen on following the same plan.
In May, Disney began preparations for the merger by purging content from Disney+. Now, less than a week after it bought Comcast’s stake in Hulu to own it outright, it has begun the process of merging the two streaming services into one product accessible via the self-titled platform.
On Wednesday, the company began offering Hulu content on Disney+ via a Hulu tile, which was added to the platform’s previously available tiles: Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, National Geographic, and Disney. With this integration, users gain direct access to Hulu content, such as Only Murders in the Building, The Bear and the recently greenlit Futurama, among others, from inside Disney+.
The Disney+ cum Hulu integration is available to users who have a Disney+ and Hulu bundle as well as users who have separate Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions – but only if they registered for both services with the same email address.
In other words, if you registered for Disney+ and Hulu with different email addresses, you won’t be able to watch Hulu content from the Disney+ app. You wouldn’t receive the Hulu integration to start with, let alone be able to access it.
The integration takes users’ subscription tiers for both services into account and provides a service that corresponds with their tier on both platforms. For instance, users who have an ad-supported Disney+ subscription and a premium ad-free Hulu subscription will continue getting ads when they stream Disney shows while the Hulu shows they stream will be ad-free.
Currently, the roll-out is in beta mode with the full launch scheduled for March 2024. Despite this, users who receive the feature will get the full Hulu experience directly through their Disney+ apps. Apart from the thousands of content users can access in the Hulu hub, the merger also introduces advanced parental control settings to Disney+ allowing users to manage children’s access to the app.
According to a report by The Verge, the integration isn’t seamless yet. For instance, the watch history of Hulu shows doesn’t carry over into Disney+ and users can’t continue from where they left off on Hulu in Disney+. The report also reveals that the Hulu hub on the Disney+ app lacks an option for quick access to different categories, including movies and television series.
While these lapses detract from users’ experience of the merger, Disney’s goal with the beta is to identify user pain points so it can address them before the full launch in March. Therefore, users can expect the company to improve these issues before launch.
For users who would rather enjoy Disney+ and Hulu content separately, that option will remain available. The merging of Hulu and Disney+ product offers users access to wider content at a more affordable price. However, despite the integration of Hulu content into Disney+, Hulu + Live TV, as well as Premium add-ons, will remain accessible only via the native Hulu app.
