Disney Gains Full Control of Hulu Following Deal With Comcast

[ActionableMango]

All these new subscription services fighting for my money are making it easier for me to just decide to watch less TV and go outside to experience real life! #SPF50

I've got to agree. So many more choices than in the past, but I ultimately watch way less tv than I used to and I am more deliberate about what I am going to watch when I do watch tv.

Agreed here as well.

If you feel the need to subscribe to a dozen TV services, what you really need to do is change your lifestyle before you and your couch merge into one inseparable entity suffering from sedentary health problems.

 

[macduke]

I always hated that Hulu made me pay and I had to watch ads. I bought their ad-free tier when it came out, but I realized it wasn't worth it to pay for watching reruns of good shows in the background because most newer network TV content sucks since all the talent has gone to cable or companies like Netflix. When I got my AirPods I started listening to podcasts more. So instead of watching The Office for the 14th time I'm keeping up on current events and learning new things while working around the house and getting things done.

 

[iReality85]

There are so many huge companies now. The US government has been derelict of its responsibility, namely trust busting. Too many lobbyists up on Capitol Hill stuffing money into politicians' back pockets.

Disney, Google, Facebook. I'd even say AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast need to be broken up. Too much power has become concentrated and not enough markets for good competition.

 

[sinsin07]

More death by a thousand cuts for Netflix (& others?):
AT&T CEO Says WarnerMedia to Pull TV Shows From Rivals as Streaming Service Launches

Who say a la carte?

Currently there are 62 US streaming services and counting.

 

[siddavis]

While technically it’s not a monopoly, I see it hurting consumers. Each separate network will not be a competitor to each other because all of them will have their own content and have little to no overlap when it comes to television. Netflix and Hulu were seen as the two sites where you could go to watch any movie or TV show you wanted. Hulu unified the experience for television. Now though it’s falling apart. No one is sure how this deal was reached, but I’m willing to bet Disney was able to leverage their power to push NBC out since they will now be developing their own service.

In the end, it will hurt consumers and studios alike IMO. I don’t see people going and paying à la carte, which means they’re unlikely to subscribe for one show on one service. Those who do opt to subscribe to more services will now have to pay more for the same shows and services they were getting before. To add to it, my generation is watching less and less TV while enjoying more and more YouTube. That alone would’ve hurt networks but now that they’re basically breaking up Hulu, the place where you could pay $8/month and watch any show you wanted, I see that just being another couple nails in traditional media’s coffin.

So you're saying that you liked it better when it was more like a monopoly ("...Hulu unified the experience for television...").
If the market doesn't like the way this is going, what you describe in your second paragraph will come true and things will shift yet again. ("...I see that just being another couple nails in traditional media’s coffin...") That makes this the exact opposite of a monopoly.
Basically people want to complain when things don't shake up the way they want. They cry about it and claim "monopoly" or whatever sounds good in the context, then beg some bureaucratic regulatory body to make it right.
[doublepost=1557862332][/doublepost]

There are so many huge companies now. The US government has been derelict of its responsibility, namely trust busting. Too many lobbyists up on Capitol Hill stuffing money into politicians' back pockets.

Disney, Google, Facebook. I'd even say AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast need to be broken up. Too much power has become concentrated and not enough markets for good competition.

Good grief...

 

[Unity451]

What Disney is doing should be completely illegal. This is an entertainment monopoly.

Um.. yeah... that's not a thing.

 

[J InTech82]

All these new subscription services fighting for my money are making it easier for me to just decide to watch less TV and go outside to experience real life! #SPF50

Exactly. How like how several years ago it was about cord cutting, get rid of cable but now almost every consumer tech company is getting into their own streaming service or original content. If you were add up all of them, it would surely cost more than cable itself!

 

[richpjr]

We are still in the very early stages of streaming and things will likely look vastly different in 5 to 10 years than they do now. I am currently satisfied with what Netflix/Amazon Prime/YouTube TV (and HBO during game of Thrones), but I am not tied to them and will look at each of the new offerings as they come out and move when it makes sense.

 

[4jasontv]

Um.. yeah... that's not a thing.

You are correct. They should be allowed to use and sell their content in any way they choose...

... for 14 years after it was created. As copyright law intended.

 

[2010mini]

What Disney is doing should be completely illegal. This is an entertainment monopoly.

Hulu is not a studio. So please explain your conclusions of monopoly?

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

(Sigh)

Greed is always the entertainment industry’s downfall. I don’t want to have to subscribe to a bunch of individual streaming services with individual apps from individual networks that I must jump between. That is a HUGE step backwards, yet sounds like where things are ultimately heading. Hulu is a nice alternative that has most of the shows I watch all in one place. I like it that way.

 

[wirefire]

I totally understand what Disney is doing. Disney+ is for Disney branded content... the big 4 right now Disney, Star Wars, Marvel (Major plots) and Pixar. Hulu is for "everything else" that comes out of Disney studios. Now that they own all of 20th C Fox, ABC, ETC a large portion of there assets do not fit the "Disney" Mantra... See Deadpool. But these assets are profitable so they need a home. Bring in Hulu, and you can have 2 streaming services, 2 revenue sources that offer very different product lines with a clear divergence on message and content. They have now totally torched NBC / Universal / Comcast and put them 3-5 years behind the 8 ball. CBS is floundering and if it wouldn't be for their popular reality series and Star Trek Discovery their streaming services would be irrelevant. Disney seems to be the only one that can really challenge Netflix in this space. HBO will do OK as well but they need to expand and accelerate their offerings if they expect to compete after GoT.

 

[randian]

Interesting that subscription services are becoming fully Balkanized, while digital purchase sites did the opposite. Paramount Movies or Sony Pictures Store anybody? They're dead, because who wants to buy only Paramount or only Sony movies? That's why iTunes and Vudu pretty much own that market: all your movies conveniently in one place. Yet that is the proposition that CBS and Disney want you to reject. CBS and Disney are supposedly brands that matter, which from my experience said no entertainment consumer ever. If Mission Impossible: Fallout was a Sony production and not Paramount would it matter a lick to the general moviegoer?

 

[UnusedLoginID]

Hulu is and has been standard on many Smart TVs (and AppleTV). Disney will have a direct access to everyone’s living room through Hulu without having the customer to shell out money for any box or adapter. Smart move…

 

[harriska2]

I’ll probably get Hulu for a month or 2 and watch Veronica Mars and Handmaid’s Tale then cancel. We already have and love Netflix and Amazon Prime. Between those 2 we are never at a loss for great tv watching. Amazon got ahold of BBC’s Unforgotten - all 3 seasons. Great show.

 

[stillcrazyman]

I don't watch a lot of network TV shows. Over the last couple of years, my watching has decreased a lot with Hulu.
They're pushing most current stuff to the Live TV level from what I can see.

So the two or three shows that remain might be better served with a Season Pass from iTunes.

Might be time to let go of Hulu.

 

[randian]

I don't watch a lot of network TV shows. Over the last couple of years, my watching has decreased a lot with Hulu.
They're pushing most current stuff to the Live TV level from what I can see.

So you can only watch it live? That's useless, I never watch television live.

 

[stillcrazyman]

So you can only watch it live? That's useless, I never watch television live.

Some of the content is 'live'. Most of it can be recorded for later viewing. I tried that level for a month or so and went back to the basic level.

 

[ipedro]

Not necessarily. As long as Netflix continues to take chances on TV shows/movies and their creators that others won't, there will be a place for them. See their handling of Stranger Things for a perfect example.

I’m not saying that Netflix is in danger of disappearing. I’m just pointing out that the monopoly that they’ve enjoyed on streaming is coming to an end, hence why I said the the “solo party” is over. A lot of cord cutters, including myself, simply cancelled cable and subscribed to Netflix. Disney is providing an alternative. Some will subscribe to both, but in many use cases, specially for parents, subscribing to Disney+ will be enough.

 

[BuffaloTF]

What Disney is doing should be completely illegal. This is an entertainment monopoly.

I don't think you know what that word means...

 

[Plutonius]

I hope they shut it down and move everything to Disney+

-AE

I could see them doing it.

 

[iamMacPerson]

So you're saying that you liked it better when it was more like a monopoly ("...Hulu unified the experience for television...").
If the market doesn't like the way this is going, what you describe in your second paragraph will come true and things will shift yet again. ("...I see that just being another couple nails in traditional media’s coffin...") That makes this the exact opposite of a monopoly.
Basically people want to complain when things don't shake up the way they want. They cry about it and claim "monopoly" or whatever sounds good in the context, then beg some bureaucratic regulatory body to make it right.

The better way to look at it is not as a monopoly issue, instead as a format issue. What we’re seeing is the breakup of Hulu by multiple networks so they can each have their own service. It’s like a format war, similar to VHS vs BetaMax and Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD but playing in reverse. In the end consumers got hurt because there wasn’t an immediately agreed upon standard and they let the market duke it out. While that can work in many instances, in the case of format wars it doesn’t. If you wanted to watch an HD movie from Universal in 2007 you needed an HD-DVD player. Conversely, if you wanted to watch a Disney movie you needed a Blu-Ray Player. You needed a player for each format. If the made the bet on the HD-DVD you were left with a useless player. Same with BetaMax.

A monopoly is when one company rules an entire industry and can charge or do whatever they want and act as a gatekeeper. You can breakup the monopoly by creating another company that provides the same or similar service or product. This is neither. Apple Music and Spotify are competitors because they offer almost the same exact music catalog and vary their services on cost, usability and function. Disney’s streaming service and NBC’s will never be in direct competition because their programming will not overlap.

In the end there is nothing that can be done. I wish it would be left alone as I like Hulu, but the networks are doing what they have always done: gotten greedy. In the end it’ll cost them I think, but we’ll see. May the best content win.