Disney Taking Over Operational Control of Hulu in Pact With Comcast/NBCUniversal

Disney is taking over operational control of Hulu under an agreement with Comcast/NBCUniversal that says by January 2024, Comcast can require Disney to buy out its stake at fair market value at that time. The companies said Tuesday that Disney at minimum will pay Comcast $27.5 billion for its Hulu stake. Disney and Comcast said they jointly are funding Hulu's purchase of AT&T's 9.5 percent stake back from that company and, going forward, Comcast will have the option to fund its proportionate share of Hulu's future capital calls, but it's not obligated. They said Comcast's share will be diluted if it doesn't fund, and Comcast agreed to extend Hulu's license of NBCU content and the Hulu Live carriage agreement for NBCUniversal channels until late 2024. They said in one year's time, NBCU will have the right to show on its own over-the-top service some content currently licensed exclusively to Hulu, with Hulu in turn paying a smaller license fee. With the deal, Disney is "now able to completely integrate Hulu into our direct-to-consumer business," said CEO Bob Iger. It will be able to "leverage the full power" of the Disney brands, and "creative engines to make the service even more compelling and a greater value for consumers,” he said.