(New York) Disney and Warner Bros Discovery will launch a joint streaming offer, which will bring together the Disney+, Hulu and Max platforms, a new sign of a trend towards consolidation in the ultra-competitive world of video on demand.
This new formula will be available in the United States only from this summer, the two groups said in a joint press release released on Wednesday, without further details on the exact date.
At the end of 2023, Disney took full control of Hulu, initially a joint company with the groups 21st Century Fox, Time Warner (which came under the control of AT&T) and NBCUniversal (owned by Comcast).
At the end of March, to simplify subscriber use, it provided access to Hulu from the Disney+ platform, the two services previously operating separately.
The television giants are in a race behind Netflix, which reached critical mass and profitability before anyone else.
Disney purchased several assets from 21st Century Fox in 2019 and Discovery acquired WarnerMedia from AT&T in 2022, to form Warner Bros Discovery.
The partnership announced Wednesday brings together the two main contenders for the Netflix throne.
Paramount Global (Paramount+) and Peacock (NBCUniversal) are smaller players, while Amazon Prime and Apple TV+ are only a small component of tech giants.
Asked by AFP about the price of the joint offer, Disney declined to comment, while Warner Bros. Discovery did not respond.
Disney CEO Bob Iger makes no secret of his desire to find synergies in streaming to increase its audience and pool costs.
At the beginning of February, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox announced the launch, in the fall, of a streaming package which will offer most of their respective sports content.
Disney said Tuesday when it published its quarterly results that its streaming business had reached profitability for the first time.
The Max platform will be launched in France in June, Warner Bros Discovery announced on Tuesday.