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The Iger-Hulu Flip-Flop

In 2019, Bob Iger was openly wary of introducing too much general entertainment to Disney+, concerned that it would harm the “family brand.”
In 2019, Bob Iger was openly wary of introducing too much general entertainment to Disney+, concerned that it would harm the “family brand.” Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Julia Alexander
May 16, 2023

What’s going on these days between Disney and Hulu is sort of baffling. Back in February, C.E.O. Bob Iger sounded like he had soured on a deal to acquire Comcast’s one-third stake in the platform, valued at some $9 billion. “We are intent on reducing our debt,” Iger told CNBC. “I’m not going to speculate if we’re a buyer or a seller of it. But I’m concerned about undifferentiated general entertainment.” Less than a month later, at a Morgan Stanley conference, he sounded even less confident in Hulu’s value. It’s “very tricky” to pin down, he said, describing streaming as a “nascent business.” 

But on last week’s earnings call, Iger sounded like he’d had a change of heart. “Cordial” and “constructive” talks with Comcast C.E.O. Brian Roberts had begun, he said. Three months of study had led him to the conclusion that “a combination of the content that’s on Disney+ with general entertainment is a very strong combination, from a subscriber perspective, from a customer acquisition and retention perspective, and also from an advertiser’s perspective.”