Iger said that the deal would give Hulu, which it will now own 60% of alongside Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit and Time Warner, a “great opportunity” to expand and compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon.
“Owning a third of [Hulu] was great but having control will allow us to greatly accelerate Hulu into that space and become an even greater competitor to those already out there. We’ll be able to do that not only by putting more content in Hulu’s direction but by essentially having control to the extent that managing Hulu becomes a little bit more clear, efficient and effective,” he said.
Asked about content spending plans at Hulu, which is in an arms race with streaming rivals Netflix and Amazon, he said it would be “premature to speculate” ahead of the deal close but said it had “some time to consider that”.
“We do know that if we decide to increase our original spending on Hulu, we certainly have the intellectual property-creating possibilities far more than we did before this acquisition,” he added.
Iger reiterated that direct-to-consumer plays are a priority for the enlarged studio as seen by the announcement of Disney and ESPN branded streaming services. “One of the most exciting aspects of the acquisition is that it will allow us to greatly accelerate our direct to consumer strategy, enabling us to better serve consumers around the world. We believe creating a direct to consumer relationship is vital to the future of our media businesses and is our priority.”
