With Disney already in the midst of its “one-app” streamlining of Hulu and Disney+ in the U.S., it is also making a similar move in Latin America with Star+.
The company will shift programming on Star+ to Disney+ in the second quarter of 2024 and Star+ will wind down as a stand-alone service in the region.
The move was announced last week by the media company’s Latin America division but the news has received scant U.S. media attention. The unified Disney-Hulu experience entered beta earlier this month and is scheduled to fully launch in March. Disney recently bought out Comcast’s one-third stake in Hulu.
A source indicated to Deadline that the shift in Latin America was timed to the likely launch of the Disney+ ad-supported tier in the region next year. The new ad offering, which went live in the U.S. about a year ago, just reached European territories and Canada on November 1. Asked about any correlation between the Star+ shuffle and the forthcoming arrival of the Disney+ ad tier, a company rep told Deadline that launch plans in additional territories have not yet been finalized.
“This integration will allow the unparalleled strength of our content to be available in a single app, providing an enhanced and superior experience, and simplified access for subscribers, who are always our main focus,” said Diego Lerner, President, The Walt Disney Company Latin America.
CEO Bob Iger has frequently espoused the importance of creating a more “unified” experience for viewers, which the company believes will enhance engagement.
The Star networks and Hotstar streaming service went to Disney as part of the $71.3 billion acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox, which closed in 2019. As Disney scaled up in streaming, it preserved the Star brand in much of the world, made Disney+ a low-price add-on to Hotstar and went on to launch Star+ in Latin America in 2021. Along with the general entertainment fare available everywhere, the outlet has originals created entirely in Latin America. In streaming, Star has been a tile on Disney+ in many territories outside the U.S., as Hulu is in the current one-app beta rollout in the U.S.
Additional details, including pricing for the newly integrated offering in Latin America, will be announced at a later date, Disney said.