Hulu Will Remain US-Only
Disney announced its plans for Star during its Investor Day 2020, where it also revealed the company’s mammoth content rollout for the coming years.
Currently, Hulu (another Disney-owned service) is only available in the US. There have been questions as to when Hulu would be available globally, since CEO Bob Iger planned to expand it, but Disney has now decided to take a different approach.
According to current Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Hulu has no brand awareness outside the US. As such, the answer is a new brand: Star.
What Is Star?
Star is a new streaming brand from Disney. It will host Disney’s more “adult” offerings that sit outside its traditional family-friendly image.
This includes content from studios like ABC, FX, Searchlight, and 20th Century Studios. These are all studios that Disney own. Licensed content that exists on Hulu will not be part of Star.
In Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, Star will be integrated into Disney+ on February 23, 2021. It will appear as a branded tile, much like Marvel and Star Wars do now.
Customers won’t need to subscribe to anything extra. However, to account for this, Disney will be raising the price of Disney+ globally.
In Latin America, Star will launch as a standalone service in June 2021 under the name Disney+. This will hold not only Disney content, but also ESPN+ live sports like tennis and soccer.
Speaking to analysts, Chapek said:
You may know the Star name from Hotstar, a streaming service that Disney acquired through its purchase of Star India, which then became Disney Plus Hotstar. Disney hopes to use some brand recognition from this in its global rollout of Star.
Subscribe to All of Disney’s Streaming Platforms
If you want to watch all the content that Disney has to offer, you might be interested to know about the new bundle that packages Disney+, ESPN+ and ad-free Hulu into one monthly cost.
