The Hulu App Is Going Away (and What That Means for Users)

It’s official, Hulu is officially going away next year — kind of. On Wednesday, Disney announced that the Hulu app will be going away in 2026. Disney now fully owns Hulu and intends to integrate the streaming service into its other streaming platform, Disney+, in the upcoming year. Rather than having the standalone Hulu app and the Disney+ app, the company will seek to release a unified Disney+ and Hulu streaming app sometime next year. Per Disney, however, customers will still be able to purchase subscriptions to Hulu and Disney+ independently of one another, despite the upcoming integration and phasing out of the Hulu app.

“Today we are announcing a major step forward in strengthening our streaming offering by fully integrating Hulu into Disney+,” Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, and Hugh Johnston, the CFO, said regarding the integration in prepared comments delivered during Disney’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday (via Variety). “This will create an impressive package of entertainment, pairing the highest-caliber brands and franchises, great general entertainment, family programming, news and industry-leading live sports content in a single app.”

They continued, “By creating a truly differentiated streaming offering, we will be providing subscribers tremendous choice, convenience, quality, and enhanced personalization. This will enhance our ability to continue to grow profitability and margins in our entertainment streaming business through expected higher engagement, lower churn, and advertising revenue potential, as well as operational efficiencies that over time may result in savings that we can reinvest back into the business.”

What Does the Hulu and Disney+ App Integration Mean for Users?

By putting both services together on one tech platform, as Disney says, it will ultimately “result in cost synergies.” The company views the integration as a way for the company to bundle new ad sales. As for international audiences, Hulu is set to replace the Star tile on Disney+ beginning this Fall, although a specific date has not yet been announced for the upcoming change. One final change set to take place is that Hulu’s live TV subscribers will also be migrated over to Fubo, a majority-owned service by Disney. Most importantly for users, by integrating Hulu into the Disney+ app, Disney hopes it will provide an overall better experience for consumers.

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Work is said to already be underway on these changes, with Iger and Johnston revealing that the company will begin implementing new changes into Disney+ in the coming months that should help to improve the app. News of the integration of Hulu into Disney+ shouldn’t be too surprising. While Disney owned a majority stake in Hulu for years, the company officially bought out NBC Universal’s stake in the platform in June, officially giving Disney complete ownership of the platform. Last year, the company had already begun integrating Hulu’s content into the Disney+ app as a means of bringing in more subscribers for Disney+.

The decision to integrate Hulu into Disney+ is a smart one for the company, as Disney+ hasn’t been quite as successful as other streaming platforms. While it was thought Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm originals could help to carry the platform, that hasn’t quite been the case. While those studios behind some of Disney’s most popular properties have found some success with shows like WandaVision and The Mandalorian, Disney+ hasn’t found the same success as competitors in the streaming space, most notably Netflix.

Along with news of the upcoming integration, the company also announced it will be following in the footsteps of Netflix by choosing to no longer report its streaming subscriber numbers for Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+. Subscribers are currently able to bundle a subscription to Disney+, Hulu, and Max, allowing them to enjoy all three streaming services for a lower price than paying for them all individually. It remains to be seen whether or not this change will impact that bundle come next year.