Disney and Comcast play chess for Hulu

The Future. The Disney-Comcast drama over Hulu has been going for a decade… and will be finally coming to a head at the top of 2024 when one of the companies will have to buy out the remaining stake (Disney has two-thirds, Comcast has one-third). Considering that Disney’s Bob Iger has already laid out plans to make Hulu a tile on Disney+ to build out the streamer’s general entertainment offerings, it’s more than likely Disney will be shelling out billions next year to complete the acquisition.

Canary in a stream-mine
The complicated deal between the two entertainment giants allows for either Comcast to compel Disney to buy out its stake or for Disney to require Comcast to sell its stake (yeah, very complicated).

• The crux of the issue is that neither company can agree on how much Hulu is actually worth… by the tune of tens of billions of dollars (but it legally can’t be valued below $27.5 billion).
• The companies are currently in arbitration over the matter; Comcast claims Disney has kept Hulu from growing by not rolling it out internationally.
• Either way, both companies will do a final valuation early next year, and if the numbers are too far apart, an independent third party will make the final call.

With 48 million subscribers, high ARPU (average revenue per subscriber), and one of the few streamers to actually turn a profit, expect that valuation to be closer to Comcast’s number.