2
Credit: ABC/Disney, Edited by ITMThe Walt Disney Company has announced that it will merge the Disney+ and Hulu streaming platforms in March 2024, and reports indicate that the juggernaut new service will begin hosting all past and current seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, the massively popular and long-running medical drama show.
Grey’s Anatomy premiered on ABC in 2005 as a mid-season replacement but rapidly grew to be one of the biggest shows on television. The Shonda Rhimes show has won literally dozens of Primetime Emmy Awards and is consistently one of the most popular shows on both linear and streaming television. It also catapulted its lead actor, Ellen Pompeo (who portrays Dr. Meredith Gray), to global fame, as well as boosting the careers of numerous stars like Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Chandra Wilson, Isaiah Washington, and Patrick Dempsey.
Related: Grey’s Anatomy 2023/2024: What You Need to Know
Until now, the streaming rights to Grey’s Anatomy have been held by Netflix despite the show being a production of ABC, a Disney-owned company. Due to labyrinth rights issues and contracts, only the 19th and most recent season of Grey’s Anatomy is currently available to stream on Hulu, Disney’s preferred platform for mature-themed content.
Now, Variety is reporting that Disney Entertainment and Netflix have made a deal for all 19 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy to land on Hulu in March, just as Hulu fully becomes a part of the new Disney+ streaming service.
Effectively, Disney has found a way to take Grey’s Anatomy back from Netflix, particularly since new episodes of the show will only be available on the new Hulu/Disney+ app. Reportedly, this is part of a larger deal between the Mouse and Netflix US to license Disney content on a limited basis, albeit staying away from the major franchises like Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar.
Related: Disney’s ABC Confirms No ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Release in 2023
The streaming market has largely been characterized by rabid competition between platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video, all of which are constantly struggling to maintain subscriber bases and differentiate their content. Until now, one of the main ways streamers did that was by producing exclusive content, like Netflix’s Stranger Things and Wednesday, Max’s House of the Dragon, Disney+’s numerous Star Wars and Marvel shows, and Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
More recently, however, major streaming platforms have begun leasing content to their competitors, like Warner Bros. Discovery licensing DC films and shows to both Tubi and Amazon Prime Video and Netflix taking over streaming Lost from Hulu. If this trend continues, we will likely see more and more overlap between services, like Grey’s Anatomy.
Inside the Magic reached out to Disney for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publishing.
Are you excited for the new Disney+/Hulu app? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!