Disney+ and Hulu will test becoming a single app starting next month

Ben Schoon | Nov 8 2023 - 2:20 pm PT

Disney has announced that it will start testing a single-app experience for Disney+ and Hulu starting in December ahead of a wider rollout in 2024.

Announced as a part of Disney’s Q4 2023 earnings call today, the company confirmed plans to start beta testing the combination Disney+ and Hulu under a single app. The beta test would begin in December for those subscribed to The Disney Bundle.

Disney’s Bob Iger said (as transcribed by The Verge):

We remain on track to roll out a more unified one-app experience domestically, making extensive general entertainment content available to bundle subscribers via Disney Plus. We expect that Hulu and Disney Plus will result in increased engagement, greater advertising opportunities, lower churn, and reduce customer acquisition costs.

Iger confirmed that the combined app experience would launch in Spring 2024.

This news comes less than a week after Disney purchased Comcast’s remaining stake in Hulu for $8.61 billion.

What has yet to be confirmed is exactly how this will work, as Disney has so far used Hulu to split out content that doesn’t fit the “family-friendly” brand. Disney+ has a filter for TV-MA and R-rated content which is turned on by default, introduced when the platform released Marvel shows formerly on Netflix, as well as films such as Deadpool. In other regions, Disney+ integrates “Star,” similar to Hulu, under its own section in the app.