Hulu Can Be Disney's Direct-to-Consumer Bridge, nScreenMedia Analyst Says

Disney should continue investing in Hulu when it takes majority control of the streaming service since Hulu can be the bridge to Disney's direct-to-consumer future, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Monday. Hulu can help direct consumers to Disney's coming DTC offerings, such as by offering ESPN+ as a Hulu premium add-on when that service launches in 2019, he said. But keeping Hulu going won't be easy, since minority owner Comcast may come to see Disney as a competitor rather than a partner and a big challenge for Disney will be keeping the MVPD and other content providers from pulling their programming from Hulu, he said. Disney didn't comment Tuesday.