Disney to pay Comcast $438.7 million to take full control of Hulu

telcodad

Disney has finally agreed to pay Comcast an additional $438.7 million for its stake in the streaming service Hulu, concluding a 2-years-long appraisal process:

Disney Finalizes Hulu Buyout from Comcast for $9.05 Billion, Ending Two-Year Valuation Dispute
By Luke Bouma, Cord Cutters News - June 9, 2025
https://cordcuttersnews.com/disney-finalizes-hulu-buyout-from-comcast-for-9-05-billion-ending-two-year-valuation-dispute/

In a landmark deal for the streaming industry, Disney has officially closed its acquisition of Comcast’s one-third stake in Hulu, securing full ownership of the streaming platform after more than two years of contentious negotiations. The final price tag, confirmed through a contractual appraisal process completed on June 9, 2025, requires Disney to pay an additional $438.7 million to Comcast’s NBCUniversal, bringing the total cost to approximately $9.05 billion. The transaction, detailed in a Disney SEC filing on Monday, is set to close on or before July 24, 2025.
:
The agreement stems from a 2019 pact between Disney and Comcast, which established a guaranteed floor value of $27.5 billion for Hulu, with Comcast’s one-third stake valued at a minimum of $9.167 billion. In December 2023, Disney paid $8.61 billion to Comcast as an initial payment, representing one-third of that floor value. However, the final valuation required arbitration after the two companies’ appraisers reached wildly different estimates. Disney’s appraiser valued Hulu below the $27.5 billion threshold, while Comcast’s appraiser proposed a figure that would have added $5 billion to Disney’s payment. …

px_eliezer_

Hulu came first, but later on after Comcast established Peacock, there was no reason for Comcast to still be involved with Hulu.

Donut417

px_eliezer_ there was no reason for Comcast to still be involved with Hulu.

But it’s not like Comcast is obligated to give its stake in Hulu to Disney for free. It was well established that Comcast wanted out of the partnership. But they are going to make sure they get what’s owed to them.

lesmikesell

px_eliezer_ Hulu came first, but later on after Comcast established Peacock, there was no reason for Comcast to still be involved with Hulu.

I thought for the original many years of Hulu the reason it existed was to be just good enough to discourage other streaming competitors but not good enough to replace Comcast’s cable TV service - and now that it is too late to continue that role there is no point in Comcast owning or trying to control it.

Donut417

lesmikesell I thought for the original many years of Hulu the reason it existed was to be just good enough to discourage other streaming competitors but not good enough to replace Comcast’s cable TV service - and now that it is too late to continue that role there is no point in Comcast owning or trying to control it.

I dont think Comcast ever had a controlling stake in Hulu. Originally 21st Century Fox and NBC Universal started the company. 21st Century was bought by Disney and NBC was bought by Comcast. The only reason Comcast was involved was due to a purchase of a different company. There were a few other investors. By 2019 Disney had 67% and Comcast only had 33%. At the time I think Comcast might have been testing the waters with streaming. It’s likely Hulu’s success was what led to them developing Peacock.

lesmikesell

Donut417 I dont think Comcast ever had a controlling stake in Hulu. Originally 21st Century Fox and NBC Universal started the company. 21st Century was bought by Disney and NBC was bought by Comcast.

Yeah, but all companies with other profitable distribution channels and deals that they did not want to see disrupted - so for years they put in just enough effort to discourage real competition. YouTube TV might be the one that pushed past all that since they didn’t have any alternate structure to protect.

Donut417

lesmikesell I recall PlayStation Vue and Hulu live existed before YouTube TV. In fact I subscribed to both Vue and Hulu live. Both were like watching cable TV and nearly just as expensive. Which is why we unsubscribed.

Wolf_Barron

Wonderful. Another Disney owned platform. Another that we won’t be subscribing to.