“Everything Is on the Table” — One Major Change Bob Iger Could Make at Disney

Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke about the future of the Walt Disney Company at the first quarter earnings call for Fiscal Year 2023.

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Iger spoke on job cuts, company restructure, and his belief that the future of the company lay within the streaming industry. Later, Iger shared more about Disney’s streaming future — especially as it relates to Hulu.

Right now, Disney owns 67% of Hulu, while the other 34% of Hulu is owned by Comcast — America’s largest telecommunications company and the driving force behind subsidiaries such as Xfinity, NBCUniversal, and Universal Pictures.

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Under the original deal, Disney has “full operational control” of Hulu. At the time, then-CEO Bob Chapek said he would own all of Hulu “tomorrow” if he could — and that seemed to be the plan.

©The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

Now, it looks like things may have changed, as CNBC’s David Faber mentioned that Disney could see a bill come its way to acquire Comcast’s remaining shares in Hulu soon — but Iger made it clear that Disney plans on cutting its debt over time.

Not only that, but with Iger’s recent comments about “curating” general entertainment content on Disney streaming platforms and going back to focusing on Disney’s “core franchises,” it may be that acquiring the remaining Hulu shares might not fit with plans to reduce debts and cut spending.

Faber said that the assumption had been “that [Disney] will buy what you don’t already own of Hulu.” Iger replied, “I think I’m suggesting that may not necessarily be the case.”

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Iger’s shift in opinion was called a “stark reversal in strategy” for Disney, after previous CEO Bob Chapek held a meeting in which “Comcast executives walked away from those discussions resigned to taking Disney’s money in 2024 rather than gaining full ownership of Hulu.”

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts previously “made a hostile bid to acquire Disney for $54 billion in 2004,” and when Iger (Disney) initially acquired most of Fox’s assets in 2019, CNBC reports that “one of his primary motivating factors was to make sure Comcast didn’t acquire a majority stake in Hulu.”

That being said, Iger could choose to sell Disney’s interest in Hulu altogether instead of making the bid to acquire it outright. With the company’s recent efforts to reduce spending, we’ll have to wait and see.

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