Over the next five years Comcast will break away from Hulu, with the company selling its 33% stake in the streaming platform to Disney for a valuation total of $27.5 billion, the Philadelphia-based company announced this week.
It had been reported in April that Comcast was considering selling its stake in Hulu, and it seems those rumors are true. According to information from Comcast, this new deal also gives Disney full operational control of Hulu effective immediately.
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Comcast, which took over NBCUniversal in January 2011, received a bump in its stake percentage after AT&T sold its 9.5% ownership in Hulu to Disney and Comcast/NBCU for $1.43 billion. This deal gave Disney 66% ownership and Comcast/NBCU a 33% ownership.
This announcement comes on the heels of NBCUniversal's plans to release its own free, ad-sponsored streaming platform next year. The company has agreed to license its content to Hulu until 2024.
Under this new deal, NBCU will also have the right to begin pulling back on content starting next year. The company will also have the right to cancel its content-licensing agreements with Hulu after 2022. That includes on-demand content and Hulu live.
NBCUniversal announced Monday that its hit series "The Office," will be available on NBCU's streaming service next year. While it is unclear if the show will stay on Netflix, the streaming giant claimed in a tweet last month that the platform would have the "The Office" until 2021.
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