- Hulu will be “fully integrated” in Disney+ in 2026
- The Standalone Hulu -App will be shut down
- Bob Iger claims “Price elasticity” will help a “better consumer experience”
Disney has reported its earnings in the third quarter FY25, but it is not the company’s figures that have made headlines, with CEO Bob Iger, who advertises “full integration” of Hulu and Disney+ Set for 2026. In reality, it means that the independent Hulu app will no longer exist as the platform’s entire back catalog will be moved to Disney+, which is already the case.
As Iger himself explained in Disney’s earnings report: “Today we announce a big step forward to strengthening our streaming offerings 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 and leading live sports content in a single app.”
The statement continues: “By creating a truly differentiated streaming offering, we will give subscribers a huge choice, convenience, quality and improved personalization. This will improve our ability to continue to increase profitability and margins in our entertainment flow through expected higher commitment, lower fraud and advertising potential, and operation of operating skills can result in sparing, back to business. ”
Of course, the first thing this makes us think of is a potential price increase, with existing Disney+ subscription plans and bundles that already rise by approx. $ 1-2 each year in the last three years. Although no confirmed plans have been announced, Iger also suggested that “price elasticity” would be considered. Although we have no clear idea of what it means yet, I don’t think we should be too quick to be negative.
Disney+ and Hulus Fusion may not mean a significant price increase next year
Let’s look at the existing plans as a guide. Disney announced price increases for free subscriptions, Hulu and ESPN+ bundles, this time last year, but No Ads Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Premium Bundle remained at the general price point of $ 19.99 in the US. Disney+ prices in Australia rose again in February 2025, but were within the $ 1-2 increase in US prices that US prices saw in previous months. But no matter what bundles the price wandered up and which not, these are all bundles … and Disney won’t be able to sell so many of them now.
Unless Disney takes more of the best streaming services around its wing, Disney+ can only be coupled with ESPN+ and HBO MAX as bundles if Hulu exists exclusively within the main app. We can make a pretty sure Guess this as Hulu will be directly by replacing the existing star tile within the app. As Iger explained: “Hulu will also be a global general entertainment mark, and in the fall it will replace the Star tile on Disney+ Internation Apple.
The company will also not lose any of its subscribers through the integration process. Disney and Hulu combined the third quarter of 183 million subscribers, which increased by 2.6 million from the second quarter. Disney predicts another 10 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter who cannot be achieved if people start demanding the service to wander prices to meet a change they potentially did not ask for.
For the time being, we do not know where this leaves subscribers financially, but let’s not panic yet. Disney has not given any reason why we absorb another price increase – if anything, there are fewer reasons why this is the case. Disney is launching a new ESPN standalone streaming service on August 21 (which will be separated from ESPN+), which may give us a clearer idea of where prices are on the way.
