It’s the end of another streamer as the streaming era continues to consolidate toward cable-like entities that hold various channels in their grasp. Although it’s not entirely surprising that this would happen, we still feel kind of sad to hear that the Hulu app will soon cease to exist. Hulu green has been one of the hallmarks of the streaming era as we’ve known it, and now, it will no longer exist, at least not on the surface. In June, Disney finally became the full owner of Hulu, buying out Comcast for millions of dollars. And now it is moving to bring Hulu into the fold, so to speak. The Hulu app will be phased out and closed down, and, instead, Hulu properties such as Shōgun, Alien: Earth, and The Bear will live on the Disney+ app. Here’s what we learned about the closing of the Hulu app.
Disney has revealed that a new “unified” Disney+ and Hulu app will arrive in 2026. Customers will still be able to buy stand-alone Hulu and Disney+ subscriptions, but these arms will both live in the same combined app. CEO Bob Iger and CFO Hugh Johnston shared, ““Today we are announcing a major step forward in strengthening our streaming offering by fully integrating Hulu into Disney+. This will create an impressive package of entertainment, pairing the highest-caliber brands and franchises, great general entertainment, family programming, news and industry-leading live sports content in a single app.”
The reasoning for shutting down Hulu and bringing everything together includes, “improved consumer experience,” lower costs due to a single tech platform, and opportunities to bundle ad sales.
Internationally, Hulu will replace the Star tile, which currently contains content from Disney-owned brands such as ABC, FX, and 20th Century Studios. Disney will push Hulu as its global general entertainment brand.
Ultimately, the end of the Hulu app is merely symbolic. Disney would own 100% of Hulu whether or not the Hulu app remained in existence. But the symbolism is not lost on us. As a continued consolidation of ownership hits the streaming landscape, we feel we must ask ourselves whether there truly are different voices creating content anymore. Some of the beauty that existed in the early days of streaming came from the way the multitude of streamers that emerged created movies and TV series from wildly different perspectives and with diverging intent. As Disney+ swallows up the Hulu app, we see a literal representation of how that plurality of viewpoints is no longer in play.
RIP Hulu app, we’ll see you inside of Disney+.
Content shared from nerdist.com.