Yesterday was a particularly busy day for the fine folks in the strategic planning departments of the various entities of the Walt Disney Company. All resulting in a pretty newsworthy earnings call where a lot more was discussed besides whether or not Bob Iger literally phoned it in from his yacht or not.
POCKET LINT’s Craig Donaldson ticked off all of the high points in his piece:
Disney announced several updates for its streaming services during its quarterly earnings call, with significant changes coming soon. Starting with ESPN, Disney revealed that its new long-awaited ESPN streaming service will officially launch on August 21. Coincidentally, the same day, Fox is set to launch its new standalone streaming service, FOX One. ESPN has also inked a new deal with the NFL to acquire the National Football League (NFL) Network for its new streaming service. In exchange, the NFL is receiving a 10 percent equity stake in ESPN. Additionally, ESPN has signed a five-year deal with the WWE to exclusively feature WWE events on ESPN, including WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, starting in 2026.
Disney’s other major streaming service, Hulu, is set for a major overhaul in 2026. Hulu’s standalone app will cease to exist in 2026, and all of Hulu’s content will be available through Disney+. “Today we are announcing a major step forward in strengthening our streaming offering by fully integrating Hulu into Disney+,” CEO Bob Iger and CFO Hugh Johnston said in prepared remarks for Disney’s quarterly earnings (via Variety). “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.”
Well, Craig, THE VERGE’s Emma Roth would like a word with you, particularly regarding your app-ituary note. Here’s how she reported it:
Iger didn’t say what will become of Hulu as a standalone app as a result of the integration. When asked about the app’s future during the call, Iger dodged the question. “I think the way to look at the combination is to start with the consumer,” Iger said. “You’re going to end up with a far better consumer experience when those apps are combined.”
And the meticulous if grammatically challenged Rick Ellis called into question the accuracy of some of Iger’s other draconian pronouncements in his TOO MUCH TV newsletter from early this morning:
My understanding is that engineers at Disney are well into a second year of completely rebuilding the tech stack for Disney+, as well as for the new ESPN streamer. Hulu Live TV will apparently live on the new Disney+ app once it launches, because according to sources I spoke with earlier this year, the current Disney+ app can’t support a vMVPD lineup. I’m assuming that Hulu Live TV will be some sort of a tile on Disney+, but it is supposed to eventually be fully integrated into Disney+. there was talk in the earnings call about Hulu Live TV and being combined with the sports-centric streamer Fubo, which will be run under a proposed joint venture majority-owned by Disney. The company also said Hulu + Live TV and Fubo brands will remain separately sold and marketed. So if Hulu Live TV will eventually be absorbed inside Disney+, will the JV still be selling Fubo as another service that competes directly with Hulu Live TV and ESPN? I honestly have no idea how this is supposed to work.
And THE ATHLETIC’s Sports Business expert Dan Shanoff literally just dropped into my inbox a few more ponderables he and some other qualified nigglers out there have on their minds:
- How is success for “ESPN” (the service) defined: Number of direct subscribers? Number of fans with cable or YouTube TV who engage with the app?
- If the ESPN-NFL deal requires any level of government regulatory approval, what kind of influence will President Donald Trump want to have?
- For additional insight, I called Rich Greenfield from LightShed Partners, a media industry analyst, for questions on his mind as well:
- What are the NFL’s liquidity rights? Can they exit in some number of years? Can the NFL compel ESPN to be spun out into a separate company? How does the NFL feel about the ESPN Bet relationship?
- If both Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport have the same scoop, who gets to tweet it out first?
I’ll throw my burning question onto the bonfire as well: How much is all this f–king “change” going to cost ME?
USA TODAY’s Kelly Lawler and Jay Stahl at least made an attempt to share this not-so-inconsequential line item:
Disney also revealed Aug. 6 that its standalone ESPN streaming service will be available on Aug. 21 for the previously announced price of $29.99 a month. It can also be bundled with Disney+ and Hulu for $35.99 monthly with ads on Disney+ and Hulu (discounted to $29.99 for the first 12 months).
Which, as one sunny observer noted, essentially means that for the next year if one opts into the full bundle as I already have one is getting Disney + and Hulu FOR FREE! Whee! One small problem: I currently pay $16.99 a month for that package, even if I do have to navigate clumsily between three not-always-cooperative apps to do so. Sounds like Iger is putting a price point of $13 a month on that “far better consumer experience”.
To be fair, I’m often so damn frustrated by the whole password regeneration exercise I have to go through every time I want to settle in for a lean-back experience on my roomie’s 4K, let alone the price of my DIRECTV access that I continue with on the off chance they might someday reward me with another consulting gig, that I’ve given serious consideration to the Hulu offering, especially in light of their +Live option which means quite a bit to me. But it sure sounds like that particular aspect is work in progress, and based upon the glacial nature of how these things tend to evolve beyond the earnings call hype I’m not holding my breath.
And besides, it doesn’t sound like we’re likely to be getting a lot of objective information as to whether or not that progress and vision will be making headway, as THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Alex Weprin noted this morning:
The Walt Disney Co. will stop reporting quarterly subscriber numbers and ARPU for its streaming platforms Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, as it seeks to put more focus on the profitability of its streaming efforts. “We believe quarterly updates on the number of paid subscribers and ARPU have become less meaningful to evaluating the performance of our businesses, and we will no longer report these metrics starting with the first quarter of fiscal 2026 for Disney+ and Hulu and the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 for ESPN+,” the executives write. “While we will no longer disclose subscribers and ARPU, we will provide information on Entertainment Direct-to-Consumer profitabilitubscriber numbers and ARPU for its streaming platforms Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, as it seeks to put more focus on the profitability of its streaming efforts.
Further to the whole timing issue, those that are following the ESPN drama have cautioned that pre-existing commitments with NFL content will prevent the full gamut of live games from moving exclusively onto ESPN until at least the end of the 2026 season. Which just happens to coincide with the expected departure of Bob (A)Iger.
About the only thing we know for sure at this point is that ESPN is immediately taking over NFL Network’s office lease in a building directly across from So-Fi Stadium and will be treating it–for the time being–in a similar manner to how they treat their conference-specific college networks for the SEC and ACC. Adjuncts that add to the perception of getting more different options within their otherwise walled garden. Both of those networks have seen significant cutbacks in staffing and unique content of late and that’s expected to continue under the “new ESPN” mega-umbrella.
Which, to me, suggests the answer to Shanoff’s final question should be: Which one–Schefter or Rappaport–do you expect will be around long enough to tweet something new out?
Sounds like at this time ESPN wants to keep their options open. So do I. I’m apparently defaulting into that favored-nations “free Disney + and Hulu” zone so I’ll at least be able to have first-hand experience with what could improve–or worsen. I’ll be sure to keep y’all posted. As my annoying fantasy draft bot consistently reminds me, “you are ON THE CLOCK!!!”
Until next time…