This weeks show from Disneyland After Dark:
A slew of shows and specials are set to leave Disney+ and Hulu later this month as part of The Walt Disney Company's content purge.
About a week ago, news broke that Disney was preparing to pull content from its streaming platforms amid "strategic changes" at the company. Deadline now reports that dozens of titles will be removed from Disney+ and Hulu on Friday, May 26. The titles leaving Hulu include FX's Pistol, Dollface, National Geographic's The Hot Zone, FX's Y: The Last Man, Maggie, FX's Little Demon, The Premise, Love in the Time of Corona, Everything's Trash, Best in Snow and Best in Dough.
Meanwhile, the titles being pulled from Disney+ include The Mysterious Benedict Society, Big Shot, Turner & Hooch, Willow, The Making Of Willow, Just Beyond, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, The Quest, The One and Only Ivan, Timmy Failure, Be Our Chef, Magic Camp, Howard, Earth to Ned, Foodtastic, Stuntman, Disney Fairy Tale Weddings, Wolfgang and It's a Dog's Life With Bill Farmer.
Disney+ and Hulu Are Merging
Notably, Disney's changes regarding its approach to streaming include plans to fold Hulu's library into Disney+. In addition to having Disney+ as its flagship streaming service, the company currently has a majority stake of 67 percent in Hulu. Disney CEO Bob Iger recently confirmed plans to acquire the remaining 33 percent from NBCUniversal/Comcast. Disney+ and Hulu are expected to be fully integrated by the end of the year.
While we continue to offer Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ as standalone options, this is a logical progression of our DTC offerings that will provide greater opportunities for advertisers, while giving bundle subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content, resulting in greater audience engagement and ultimately leading to a more unified streaming experience," Iger said. "The advertising potential of this combined platform is incredibly exciting."
Disney's decision to merge Disney+ and Hulu is far from surprising. Upon its initial launch in 2019, Disney+ did not allow R or TV-MA-rated content, meaning that more adult-oriented IPs falling under the Disney umbrella (e.g. the Alien and Predator franchises) had a home on Hulu. However, in 2022, Disney+ changed its rules, introducing revamped parental controls, so it could begin adding R-rated movies and TV-MA-rated shows to the platform. This naturally led to questions regarding what might become of Hulu, especially if Disney moved to acquire the rest of the streaming service from Comcast -- which it now has.
Source: Deadline
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