![]() ![]() That’s why Comcast was always going to split from Hulu once Disney bought Fox and announced that Hulu was going to be a big part of its streaming strategy. But now the conventional wisdom is that the big media conglomerates all need to own their own services, which they will market directly to consumers, just like Netflix. In an earlier version of the world, WarnerMedia and Comcast were happy to be part of Hulu the streaming service generated near-term revenue for them by buying their shows, and also meant they didn’t have to spend money creating their own service. The reason, for instance, that Comcast is leaving Hulu is that Disney now controls Hulu, because it bought much of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox prior to that deal, Comcast, Disney, and Fox each owned 30 percent of Hulu, with AT&T’s WarnerMedia owning the rest. ![]() Which means that while today it’s pretty easy to find most of TV’s biggest hits by subscribing to Netflix and Hulu, in a few years, many of those shows will be scattered to rival services: If you want everything, you’ll need to get Netflix and Hulu and NBCUniversal’s thing and AT&T’s thing and Disney’s other streaming service.Īnd all of that is happening as - and because - the media business is consolidating, as big programmers get bought by bigger programmers (or phone companies), so they can compete with Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and other tech companies. And it is also starting to grab programming it had currently licensed to other services for itself - like the $100 million deal it has done that will allow Netflix to run Friends for a bit but also gives AT&T the ability to run the show exclusively.Īnd, not coincidentally, Disney is pulling almost all of its movies and TV shows from Netflix and will run those on Disney+, a streaming service it will launch in November. We don’t know yet whether it will move to NBCU’s service exclusively or whether it will also run on Netflix at the same time.Īlso not coincidentally: AT&T’s WarnerMedia, which is launching its own streaming service later this year, has also extracted itself from Hulu. Not coincidentally: Yesterday, NBCUniversal also announced that The Office, its hit show that has become one of the most popular offerings on Netflix, will show up on NBCU’s yet-to-launch service, too. You’ll have to either have a pay TV subscription to watch that service or subscribe to it separately. Shorter: In a few years, the NBCUniversal shows you used to watch on Hulu will have moved to another service. All of that stays in place and probably will for a long time.) (All of this is separate from Hulu’s deal to license NBCU’s programming for its Hulu Live service, which essentially works like a cable TV bundle that you get online.The Comcast/Hulu divorce will be complete by 2024.In three years, NBCUniversal can pull its shows from Hulu completely and put them on its own service.In a year, NBCUniversal can also put its shows like Saturday Night Live and This Is Us** on its own streaming video service, which hasn’t launched yet but is supposed to be up and running in 2020.All of NBCUniversal’s shows that are currently on Hulu will stay on Hulu, for now. ![]() We can break down the details in a bit, but for normal people, that means: Today’s example of this phenomenon comes from Disney and Comcast*, which announced that Comcast’s NBCUniversal will be breaking away from Hulu, the streaming video service, over the next few years. The result for consumers: You’re going to need to work harder to find your favorite TV shows. The giant media companies are consolidating and getting bigger so they can take on the giant tech companies. ![]()
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