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For my final mailing of 2023, I sent out my Top Essays of 2023 and revisited my Predictions for 2023.
[Author's Note: Comcast President Mike Cavanagh confirmed that Comcast "collected an $8.5 billion check on Friday [December 1st] at the UBS Global TMT Conference last month. I regret the error and have updated the essay below.]
One prediction I purposefully avoided making is what will happen to Hulu in 2023. I previously made one prediction in “Disney's Hulu Dilemma After Netflix's ‘What We Watched’”: If we believe Netflix’s report was a signal from the market leader that streaming’s value to consumers is about to flatten, then Disney’s bets on both the BAMTech (powering Disney+ and Star) and the Hulu platforms for streaming, Disney’s streaming strategy seems destined for more challenges.
It also has been a challenge to wrap one’s head around what’s going to happen to Hulu in 2024 given the flurry of events surrounding Hulu in Q4 2023:
Hulu has a multiple defined paths ahead within Disney but Disney’s cash balance situation has a less clear path.
The fragmentation of a technology platform within a media conglomerate like Disney—which has a market capitalization of $167 billion—is a challenge of execution across fiefdoms. It's hard to imagine Hulu thriving after the giant cash hit Disney will take to buy out Comcast's share of the platform.
Total words: 1,000
Total time reading: 4 minutes
But wait, there’s more uncertainty! On January 3rd, T-Mobile announced Hulu is joining its suite ofcomplimentarystreaming services, suggesting that Hulu does indeed have a future outside of Disney. That will offer Hulu to 117.9 million subscribers (as of its FY Q3 2023) as a free add-on, an ...