Disney kicked off a previously outlined plan to combine its major subscription streaming services into one app Wednesday, with most Hulu content integrated as a "beta" offering within the existing Disney Plus app for Disney Bundle subscribers.
Using the Disney Plus app, bundle customers will now see a Hulu tile (marked as "beta") at the top portion of their screen next to similar tile links for "Marvel," "Star Wars," "Pixar," "National Geographic" and "Disney."
The initial integration has limitations. For instance, if you started, say, season 1, episode 3 of Hulu original series The Bear in the Hulu app, Disney Plus will have no idea where you left off watching if you try to restart the series in the beta app.
And as the Penske showbiz trades note, some Hulu shows, including off-ABC sitcom hit Modern Family, aren't currently watchable in the beta.
Disney plans to launch a more integrated iteration in March, but a Disney rep told Next TV that a dedicated Hulu app will still be maintained going forward, with the virtual pay TV component, Hulu + Live TV as well as premium add-ons only accessible from that Hulu app.
As it combines the FX-fueled, adult-oriented Hulu platform with its more family-focused Disney Plus ecosystem, Disney is aggressively touting parental controls. It put together the video below to highlight the features:
Disney just rendered the initial $8.61 billion payment to Comcast to assume outright control of Hulu, which was formerly a joint venture. Hulu had 48.5 million subscribers, mostly in North America, as of the end of September.
Technically, Hulu is still a joint venture until the final valuation of the platform is determined and Comcast is finally and completely divested, but Disney has been in complete operational control of Hulu for some time.
With the integration, the Disney Bundle has become somewhat of a confusing shell game. For example, since Next TV signed up for the bundle over a year ago through a long-established Hulu subscription, it can only receive the Disney bundle as a "trio" of Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus -- for $14.99 with ads or $24.99 sans commercials.
Under Disney's latest pricing configuration, however, those who initiate the Disney Bundle via Disney Plus also have access to a "duo" option that includes just Disney Plus and Hulu -- $9.99 with ads, $19.99 without commercials.
Next TV has been paying $24.99 for over a year for the Fully Monty. Since we already receive linear ESPN through our virtual MVPD provider, we don't really need ESPN Plus video. For at least a year, we've tried, unsuccessfully for some reason we've been unable to determine, to use the service to access premium content on ESPN.com.
On Wednesday, we finally decided to devote some time -- over an hour, as it turned out -- on the phone with Hulu's Far Eastern call center, trying to claw back some of that lost ESPN Plus money and switch our account to duo status.
Disney would only refund us a month's worth our ESPN Plus coin, but it did help us convert our account to the cheaper duo option.
