As a decision on Hulu’s future looms near, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh has said that they would be looking at all their options when it comes to Hulu, including selling to anyone willing to buy their stake at a price higher than what his company has in mind. However, he did say that his company is “very happy with” the agreement they had signed with Disney in 2019 and will only “have to consider things” if a better offer comes along.
“On this one, remember they and we, back in 2019, put together a very clean and good agreement for a put-call that does happen in early 2024,” he said at a Morgan Stanley conference. “We are very happy with that, but, if there is something different that comes along, we have to consider things. But we won’t do something unless it is better in our minds than that.”
The comments have come after Disney’s returning CEO Bob Igar had said that his company may actually sell its majority share in Hulu instead of spending billions on buying out Comcast’s share in the streaming platform.
According to the four-year-old put-call agreement between the two companies, Comcast can force Disney to sell them the remaining shares, and Disney can do the same to Comcast. And Iger’s comments made it seem like his company is not interested in acquiring Hulu, rather they are more interested in ridding themselves of their majority share in the company.
Iger will also be at the Morgan Stanley conference today, in his first public appearance since he said that he would be open to selling Hulu instead of buying it.
“Everything is on the table right now, so I am not going to speculate whether we are a buyer or a seller of it. But I obviously have suggested that I’m concerned about undifferentiated general entertainment, particularly in the competitive landscape that we are operating in, and we are going to look at it very objectively and expansively,” Iger had said in February.
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The Hulu agreement requires independent experts to determine the streamer’s worth at the time of the purchase. Market analysts have priced the streaming platform at a minimum price of $27.5 billion, implying that Comcast’s one-third ownership would cost at least $9 billion.
While the two companies are essentially looking to make big bucks by ridding themself of the streaming platform, major stakeholders like TBS — which did not announce a streaming platform or date for American Dad Season 18 — may be ready to jump ship due to the uncertainty surrounding Hulu’s future. However, even though the platform’s future hangs in the balance, here’s can watch your favourite shows on Hulu outside US.
