After 17 years, Hulu as we know it is ending.
There will still be a Hulu in some form for now, but it will no longer exist as a standalone streaming service.
On Aug. 6, as part of a Disney quarterly earnings call, CEO Bob Iger announced that they would be sunsetting Hulu as an individual app at some point in 2026 and combining it with Disney Plus. This will result in an entirely new “unified” app.
We likely will not know exactly what this looks like until its yet-undisclosed launch date.
The service is also set to replace the “Star tile” that currently sits at the top of the Disney Plus menu internationally, and Hulu will be used as branding for the company’s “global general entertainment.”
In Iger’s own words:“Over the coming months, we will be implementing improvements within the Disney+ app, including exciting new features and a more personalized homepage, all of which will culminate with the unified Disney+ and Hulu streaming app experience that will be available to consumers next year.”
So, by the end of this process, Hulu will be subsumed by Disney Plus, but it will not disappear completely.
If you’re worried about losing access to your favorite Hulu content, there is no need to fear. The service is undergoing more of a makeover than anything else, at least for now. The company maintains that individual Hulu subscriptions will still exist as a standalone service, as will Disney Plus.
Hulu is the official home of thousands of movies and series, ranging from “Alien: Earth,” the latest series from “Fargo” creator Noah Hawley, to the new “King of the Hill” revival series.
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Joseph Rejent covers TV, writing about live television, streaming services and cord-cutting. He can be reached at jrejent@njadvancemedia.com.
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