There have been numerous concerns raised regarding the future of the streaming service ever since Disney bought 20th Century Fox and acquired a 66% share in Hulu. In particular, given that Disney CEO Bob Iger earlier this year said that Hulu would soon be included in Disney+ in the United States as part of a brand-new one-app experience.
Disney is anticipated to complete an acquisition of Comcast's remaining 33% investment in Hulu in order to fully control the streaming service in 2024 as per a 2019 deal between the two businesses. laying the groundwork for a prospective Hulu-Disney+ merger in the US at a later period, much to the recent mergers of HBO Max/Discovery+ and Showtime/Paramount+.
A new Hulu hub was recently launched to Disney+ Hotstar in India, but it was shortly withdrawn, possibly implying that there is a plan to rename Star as Hulu as its general entertainment hub within Disney+. This has caused a lot of confusion regarding the future of Hulu.
The official Japanese Disney+ Twitter account hinted today that some changes are on the way by uploading a graphic announcing that Hulu Japan has started to follow the account and asked, Are You Ready?
This social media tweet is particularly intriguing because Nippon TV, which acquired the Japanese division of the company in 2014, owns Hulu there rather than Disney. Licensed content from NHK, TBS Television, Fuji Television, and TV Tokyo, among others, can be found on Hulu in Japan. Over 2 million people in Japan currently subscribe to Hulu.
What the social media messages are talking about is not really apparent. Has Disney purchased Hulu in Japan with the intention of integrating it into Disney+ in order to increase its Japanese content? Will Disney utilise the Hulu name internationally for its general entertainment brand? Or is the provision of a streaming bundle just a regional deal?