By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney (NYSE:) completed the addition of the general-audience-focused Hulu streaming service to the family friendly Disney+ on Wednesday, putting titles such as “The Bear” and “American Horror Story” in the same app as “Moana” and “Frozen.”
The combination, which the company started testing last year, is designed to make viewing more convenient for customers and to increase Disney’s streaming subscriptions as cable TV usage declines.
Thousands of movies and TV shows from Hulu will be displayed alongside Disney programming across the Disney+ app and in search results. Subscribers who do not yet pay for a Disney+ bundle will see prompts to add Hulu for an extra $2 per month.
Parental control settings will allow subscribers to restrict access to more mature content from Hulu in children’s profiles, Disney executives said.
Disney’s streaming TV unit has been losing money since Disney+ launched in November 2019. Chief Executive Bob Iger has said the business will turn a profit this year. The media giant is under pressure from activist investors who criticize the company for investing billions in its direct-to-consumer business but lagging behind industry-leader Netflix (NASDAQ:).
As of December 2023, Disney+ had nearly 150 million global subscribers and Hulu nearly 50 million.
