How Disney is on the verge of acquiring full ownership of Hulu and what the future holds.

Disney has officially taken control of Hulu offering to pay Comcast $8.6 billion, as part of CEO Bob Iger’s strategy to focus on streaming. Disney is working to roll out a unified app that would integrate Hulu’s content into Disney+. Having gone through various phases since its launch in 2007, Hulu is now in the spotlight as Disney looks to streamline its operations and make streaming profitable. The big question in this process is to determine the value of Comcast’s one-third share of Hulu. Disney and Comcast will rely on investment banks to come up with valuations. Analysts agree that a broader streaming offering is the best way for Disney to compete with Netflix. However, making Hulu profitable is not without its challenges, as content costs soar and streaming has remained largely unprofitable. Disney expects that owning Hulu will lead to better engagement, more advertising, lower churn, and reduced customer acquisition costs. So far, the prices of its current bundles are at least 37% lower than the combined cost of the standalone services. Despite the possible benefits of owning Hulu, Disney will need to invest a substantial amount in content to keep up with streaming leader Netflix.