On Nov. 1, Comcast and Disney can both trigger an option that will kick off a sale process where Disney will acquire Comcast's minority stake in Hulu.
Comcast didn't want to sell its stake in Hulu to Disney right away because it believed the value of streaming video would increase between 2019 and 2024. Still, Comcast executives also understood the company would no longer have operational control over the future of the company.
The valuation calculation process isn't straightforward. Hulu has 48.3 million subscribers. A pure-play streaming service at its scale has never been sold before. Roberts argued during the Goldman conference that a fair appraisal would also have to include synergy value. Disney's ownership of Hulu helps prop up Disney+ and ESPN+ subscribers because Disney bundles all three streaming services together.