The past week or so has brought plenty of Disney-related streaming service news.
Hulu to (actually) get integrated into Disney+
Hulu, a longtime mainstay and one of the biggest US streaming services, is being fully merged with the Disney+ app in 2026, with the standalone Hulu app getting shuttered. Some might recall a similar announcement from two years ago. That news ultimately resulted in a Hulu tile introduced to Disney+, but with said tile’s content only available to Disney Bundle subscribers.
The major change is that it seems a new Disney+ app is being launched, with the standalone Hulu app supposedly being shuttered. Separate Disney+ and Hulu plans will still be available; as such, I assume Hulu’s annual Black Friday sale will still be offered. I have Hulu via that sale—a year of the ad-based version of Hulu for 99 cents a month.
As I’ve noted before, while Hulu is a mainstay “catch-all” service, one of its downsides is a relatively low amount of major franchises or kids content. (Though it helps that Hulu’s now basically the home of the 2010s-era Cartoon Network library.) Meanwhile, Disney+ in the US doesn’t have a ton of adult-only content, though it does now have the Netflix Marvel shows. Both services together (as the Disney Bundle) make up for each other’s weaknesses. The price difference between only subscribing to one or both is minimal at this point (Black Friday sales on Hulu aside). As such, one can get “Bluey,” “Doc McStuffins,” and “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” right alongside “Family Guy,” “Only Murders in the Building,” and “Futurama.”
Hulu goes international
The other big Hulu news: Hulu will roll out internationally, replacing the “Star” category on non-American versions of Disney+.
Hulu until now was a US-only streaming service, so Disney created a new tile for non-US versions of Disney+, “Star.” As such, international audiences have long been used to seeing “Family Guy” next to “Spidey and His Amazing Friends” on the same service, without apparently any backlash. That or non-US parents paid attention to how to set up a kids-only profile and make use of parental controls, which Disney advertised at Star’s launch.
This to me is a positive move. “Star” always felt like a generic name, not to mention a problematic one for marketing and trademark reasons. The “Hulu” name is more distinctive and doesn’t conflict with anything. It’ll also simplify marketing globally.
ESPN (the streaming service) goes live August 21
Disney’s stand-alone ESPN streaming service, announced last spring, is set to go live on August 21. ESPN will come with all of the existing ESPN-related cable channels, as well as ESPN+ and any ABC sports coverage. Next year will also bring exclusive coverage of WWE live events such as WrestleMania. Said live WWE events were formerly on Peacock. Between Peacock’s recent price hike, the loss of Hallmark, and now the loss of live WWE events, Peacock feels like a harder sell outside of NBC sports fans, or fans of a specific NBC Universal franchise.
ESPN also will be available as part of a bundle with Fox One, Fox’s own streaming service. Fox One comes with over-the-air and cable Fox sports coverage, as well as Fox News. The bundle will cost $40 a month; Fox One by itself runs $20.
Those that can get Fox over-the-air (and don’t need a specific Fox cable channel) might want to avoid this bundle, and avoid directly financially supporting Fox News. A better alternative:
- ESPN and HBO Max (ad-free tier): $47 a month
- Sling TV’s Orange tier, $46 a month
Either of these will provide the main national cable networks for sports coverage: ESPN, TNT, and TBS. For casual sports fans who don’t need a regional sports network, don’t need a Fox cable channel for a specific college sports team, or don’t need something obscure/specific, this might be enough. Again, as I’ve noted before, sports are expensive (if not a rip-off), so saving money isn’t easy.
Image: Hulu and Disney+ logos. (Disney)
