NEW YORK, June 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. entertainment giant Disney will pay Comcast's NBCUniversal nearly 439 million U.S. dollars for its stake in Hulu, taking full control of the streaming service, Disney has said in a securities filing.
"The move closes out an appraisal process that's dragged on for a few years," reported The Associate Press on Tuesday about the move. Disney once said in November 2023 that it was acquiring a 33 percent stake in Hulu from Comcast for at least 8.6 billion dollars. That amount reflected Hulu's guaranteed floor value of 27.5 billion dollars, according to a regulatory filing.
Robert A. Iger, Disney's chief executive, said in a statement that full ownership of Hulu would allow for "a deeper and more seamless integration of Hulu's general entertainment content with Disney+" and for bundled sales with a new ESPN streaming service that is planned for introduction later this year.
Disney has run Hulu since 2019, when Comcast ceded its authority to Disney and effectively became a silent partner.
Hulu began in 2007 and quickly evolved into as a service backed by entertainment conglomerates who hoped to stave off the internet with an online platform for their own TV shows. Disney joined in 2009, planning to offer shows from ABC, ESPN and the Disney Channel. A decade later, Disney gained majority control of the business when it acquired 21st Century Fox.
