Credit: Inside the MagicThe Walt Disney Company and the Comcast Corporation are about to go to war over who will take the bigger piece of the streaming television pie.
Not that either company would put it that way, of course. In fact, Disney and Comcast are actually partners on one level as well as direct competitors on many others. Currently, the House of Mouse and the multinational telecommunications group (less catchy than Mickey Mouse) co-own the streaming platform Hulu, with Disney owning the majority stake of 67%.
But this coming January, a bargain between Disney and Comcast will come due and allow the cable company to force the struggling House of Mouse to buy its shares for an estimated $9 billion dollars.
Related: Disney CEO Bob Iger Comments on Potential Sale to Apple
There is another option, however, in which Comcast can actually buy Hulu outright, essentially cutting Disney out of one of its increasingly valuable assets.
Disney interim chief financial officer Kevin Lansberry says that the company is “very comfortable with our current liquidity position” when it comes to buying out Comcast from Hulu (per Deadline), and it is true that the company is one of the most powerful in the world. The Walt Disney Company currently ranks #87 on the Forbes Global 2000 list of companies, which is impressive by any standards.
On the other hand, Comcast currently ranks #51 on that same list, with significantly more sales. Comcast has also expressed its own interest in purchasing Hulu, as well as dismissed any chance that it would be willing to make another partnership deal with Disney over ESPN.
It may be true that Disney has sufficient funds (right now) to purchase the shares held by Comcast, but it is worth noting that the last several years of the company have been marked by frequent flops at the box office, dwindling park attendance, and CEO Bob Iger slashing every single budget and department in sight to try to get the finances back to back.
Related: Disney Permanently Removing Shows for Hulu-Disney+ Merger
However, Bob Iger has made it very clear that he considered linear TV (like the much-beloved Disney Channel) to be obsolete and that the future of Disney lies in consolidating streaming platforms like Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. That, and turning to gambling.
Iger says that there have been “cordial” and “constructive” discussions between Disney and Comcast over who will own Hulu and what it’s going to cost them. More likely, things will get expensive and rough for everyone involved.
Who is going to win in the battle over Hulu, Disney or Comcast? Let us know your prediction in the comments below!