Ranking The Potential Of Each Streaming Service
10. Hulu
Estimated Subscribers – 39m
Along with Netflix, Hulu was one of the first companies to capitalise on the streaming bandwagon in 2008. Having been owned by a ‘who’s who’ list of media giants throughout its history, the combination of Disney, Comcast (parent of NBC/Universal), News Corporation (parent of Fox) and AT&T (parent of Warner Bros) all held stakes when Disney acquired Fox and assumed majority ownership.
AT&T subsequently sold their 10% share, whilst Comcast have committed to selling theirs in 2024 to give the House of Mouse full control.
Only ever available in two countries (the USA and Japan, where it exists in name only with the platform having been sold to a domestic company in 2014), Hulu currently exists in a strange bubble.
Outside of the States, much of its content has recently been incorporated into the ‘Star’ module of Disney+, but inside them, it continues to be the home of the less ‘family friendly’ properties that Disney acquired in the Fox deal, maintains a growing subscriber base and has attracted plaudits for its original creations such as The Handmaid’s Tale.
It would be disorganised for Disney to maintain two entertainment streaming services indefinitely though. Though US customers can currently access bundle packages that give them access to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, the fate of Hulu seems sealed as its properties becoming bargaining chips to grow the more lucrative Disney+ platform further.
Expect a swift merger once Comcast are removed from the equation.