Disney’s bringing Hulu to Europe – and is calling it Star

Once a year, the Walt Disney company holds its Investor Day. The event focuses on presenting investors with impressive numbers, buttering them up a bit and introducing upcoming projects.

A good 50 new films and series from the «Star Wars» and «Marvel» universe were announced for the next two to three years. Primarily produced for cinema screens or for the in-house streaming service Disney+.

For the Swiss and German market, something else stands out: Star.

Why? Because it’s about Hulu. Hulu is Disney’s streaming service for grown-up, less family-oriented content. «Deadpool», for example. But Europe doesn’t have Hulu. Not yet, anyway. Things are about to change in February 2021. Disney will simply be renaming Hulu to Star in this country.

Star. Pretty cool, right? Yes, but it comes at a price.

What is Hulu or Star?

Things aren’t looking too good for Disney. Cinemas, parks, holiday resorts and cruise ships are either closed or run at a bare minimum due to the pandemic. For Disney, the streaming service is the only thing that’s currently working flawlessly.

And how!

Disney+ currently has 86.8 million subscribers worldwide – after just over a year. To put things in perspective: Netflix has 195 million subscribers but has been around for over ten years. If Disney were to include Hulu and its sports streaming service ESPN+, the company would have 137 million subscribers worldwide. For that number to keep on growing, Disney wants to make Hulu accessible outside of the US. The company plans to bump subscriptions up from 300 to 350 million within four years.

Hulu’s been part of Disney since May 2019 and was previously partially controlled by Comcast, the parent company of Universal Pictures and Sky. Hulu serves as Disney’s platform for content that doesn’t fit into the family-friendly corporation.

Mainly for films and series from the studios of «21st Century Fox», which was acquired in March 2019. Here are some examples:

• «Deadpool»
• «The Kingsmen»
• «Terminator»
• «Love Victor»
• «The Shape of Water»
• Etc., etc., etc...

In the US, viewers can subscribe to Hulu to access this type of content. But not in Europe. At least not via a Disney-controlled streaming or video-on-demand service.

How do I get Hulu/Star on my TV?

Everything’s about to change on 23 February 2021. To access the service, you don’t need to lift a finger. All you need is a Disney+ subscription. The five existing tiles – Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic – will simply be joined by a sixth one:

Star.

Indeed, the Star tile will only be visible outside of the US, in countries where Hulu isn’t available. In any case, Disney subscribers won’t need to get a new subscription to access the Star tile. Sounds great.

But what sounds great is actually a horse trade. Why? Because Disney+ will put their prices up from 23 February 2021.

• Switzerland: 12.90 francs per month / 129.00 francs per year
• Germany: 8.99 euros per month / 89.90 euros per year

On a monthly basis, that's three francs or two euros more than before. At least the surcharge gets you a significantly larger offer. And unlike Netflix, which has had price increases in the past without any real explanation, the connection between the factor price and the factor new content is more obvious in this case.

Any more details about the content?

Yes and no. The official press release states that Star aims to offer a solid collection of movies, series, documentaries and new and exclusive originals. Concretely, we’re looking at around 50 Star originals per year.

However, there’s no official list containing all titles just yet.

Speaking of which, Disney wants to protect kids’ eyes from the adult-friendly Hulu/Star content by letting you choose which user profiles can see the Star tile. You can also add extra protection with a PIN.

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