(Reuters) – Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal is planning to unplug much of its content from Walt Disney’s Hulu and make it exclusive to its subscription service, Peacock, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
NBCUniversal content counts for only a small percentage of Hulu’s total viewership, but roughly 80% of NBC’s digital audience is from Hulu, the Journal reported.
Both Comcast and Disney declined to comment.
NBCUniversal owns a third of Hulu, with Disney controlling the rest.
Big media companies are investing heavily to build their streaming services as they look to reach a wider audience in a connected world dominated by players such as Netflix Inc.
If NBCUniversal decides to pull its content from Hulu, which could include fan-favorites “Saturday Night Live” and “The Voice,” it would be removed by the fall of 2022, according to the WSJ report https://www.wsj.com/articles/comcast-weighs-pulling-some-content-from-hulu-in-effort-to-boost-peacock-11637614368?mod=latest_headlines.
The content would remain in Hulu until at least 2024, if NBCUniversal does not exercise its option to exit its agreement with Disney, it added.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
