According to Deadline, there has been drastic increase in Hulu + Live TV subscriptions relative to internal expectations since “a carriage impasse with Charter began.” Deadline claims this information was provided by a Disney spokesperson. As of last Thursday, eight ABC stations and 18 of Disney’s cable networks suffered a blackout on Charter’s Spectrum service in one of the most consequential TV carriage disputes to date.
Hulu has been overseen by Disney since 2019 and came out with the Hulu and Disney+ subscription bundle in 2017. Disney has quickly become nearly the top television provider in the United States. YouTube TV falls slightly behind Disney. This extreme raise is caused by the insane number of consumers switching to streaming providers instead of cable and networks.
When Disney took over Hulu back in 2019, the powerhouse company began merging live television with streaming services like Disney+ and ESPN+. According to Deadline, Disney also “experimented with marketing messages that would be anathema to the traditional domain of cable trucks and set-top boxes, urging customers to turn Hulu + Live TV on and off based on seasonal interests, particularly sports.” A few years ago, in 2021, on-demand Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ were all merged with Hulu Live for, surprisingly, no extra charge per month.
The rise in Hulu + Live TV subscribers makes sense with the recent news of sped-up timetable for Comcast to sell its one-third financial interest in Hulu to Disney. During a Goldman Sachs investor conference, Brian Roberts, the CEO of Comcast, stated that instead of January 2024, the process will now begin this month on the thirtieth. Roberts stated, “You get all of the content and all of the bundling.” This statement suggests that the final value of Hulu + Live TV would surpass the $27.5 million initially agreed upon in 2019.
While the expansion of subscribers was slightly expected for Hulu + Live TV, Disney is quite the marketer. Deadline states that “the current surge in viewer demand for live sports – the carriage fight went public during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and with college and NFL football about to kick off – Charter made the unusual move of referring customers to rival providers.” Even more out of character for Charter, the company paired up with one of their rival companies, Fubo, in order to offer an exclusive discount to subscribers.
But why did Charter send viewers to their rival streamers? The thought process is that if Charter sends customers in the opposite direction, they can hope to continue providing service to those who do choose to drop their television service. No matter what, the outcome still benefits for Charter, so it’s a win-win for them. This past weekend, Disney made a blog post that made “prominent note” of Hulu + Live TV and even points Spectrum consumers to another website where other internet and television providers are listed.
Deadline states that “a period of stasis has set in around the carriage negotiations since the fusillade of initial statements.” The initial statements began last Thursday and continued on through Labor Day weekend. Charter states that it’s ready to “move on” from this business unless a quick agreement was to be reached between Charter and Disney. Viewers and stakeholders have shown worry now that their beloved bundle has had a huge “FRAGILE” stamp pressed into it. Cable companies are experiencing blow after blow and it’s seeming as if there won’t be end to it.
Programmers have shown a complete devotion to streaming as opposed to cable and network television, which has undoubtably created some friction between them and their distribution partners. Deadline states that “Disney has refuted Charter’s claims that it wants to charge customers twice for content available on Disney+ and Hulu as well as general entertainment cable networks.” Hopefully a deal is to be struck sooner rather than later.