In a Monday LinkedIn submit, a former vice chairman at Hulu lamented Disney’s choice to close down the enduring Hulu app and totally merge Hulu’s choices with Disney+, marking the top of an influential chapter in streaming historical past. Ben Smith, who labored at Hulu between 2015 and 2018 as the corporate’s senior vice chairman of expertise, main the event of Hulu’s product technique and buyer expertise, mentioned he didn’t have sufficient optimistic issues to say about his former coworkers, and Hulu’s tradition usually.
“Plenty of corporations discuss caring about their prospects, Hulu actually did. In a visceral approach,” Smith wrote. “Numerous corporations say they ‘work arduous and play arduous.’ Hulu actually walked the stroll.”
“Generally the great guys don’t win,” he added. “RIP.”
Smith, who helped form the Hulu app and oversaw every thing associated to the viewer expertise at Hulu, struck an emotional notice amongst colleagues and followers of the once-giant streaming firm as Disney prepares to sundown Hulu’s standalone platform starting in 2026, following its current acquisition of full possession of the service from Comcast.
Hulu’s streaming legacy
Hulu launched in 2007 as a three way partnership between NBC Common, twenty first Century Fox, and Windfall Fairness Companions; Disney joined later, in 2009.
Hulu was designed to reply to altering viewer habits and problem early disruptors akin to Netflix—to present the linear broadcasters a foothold within the streaming world, primarily. Hulu’s app turned effectively regarded for its user-friendly interface and modern characteristic set, often successful reward for accessibility and content material discovery. Over its lifespan, Hulu established a status for unique programming, together with important and industrial successes together with The Handmaid’s Story, Ramy, and Solely Murders within the Constructing.
However Disney’s stewardship of Hulu was years within the making. The corporate assumed majority management of Hulu in 2019 when it bought twenty first Century Fox for $71.3 billion, adopted by the acquisition of remaining stakes from AT&T and Comcast. Disney finalized its acquisition of Comcast’s share in June 2025, paying round $9 billion after a contentious valuation course of that in the end concerned an arbitrator. Fortune‘s Shawn Tully reported that the sophisticated deal was pivotal to Bob Iger’s turnaround plan, after the boomerang CEO returned to the nook workplace, with the current announcement marking the fruits of Disney’s lengthy plan to unify its direct-to-consumer technique, combining the audiences and content material of Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+.
Hulu will dwell on
Whereas the standalone Hulu app will lastly sundown in 2026, Iger mentioned the Hulu model and catalogue will dwell on as a central leisure hub throughout the Disney+ platform. Clients will nonetheless have the ability to subscribe to Hulu’s content material—starting from originals and community hits to dwell TV—both independently or as a part of a bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+. However the best way customers entry exhibits will essentially change: Disney guarantees the brand new unified app will ship “a formidable package deal of leisure,” with deeper personalization and enhanced dwell sports activities choices.
That mentioned, amongst streaming insiders and longtime viewers and subscribers, many see the dying of the Hulu app as shedding an early streaming wars-era icon of types. “Always remember that Hulu was initially free,” one commenter wrote on Reddit. “I used to be within the Hulu beta,” one other mentioned. “RIP.”
To be clear, Hulu as a service shouldn’t be disappearing—it should seemingly develop internationally as Hulu replaces the “Star” tile on Disney+ this fall—but it surely actually represents the closing of a door. Hulu was a transformative drive, opening a bigger battle for streaming dominance. So whereas the app will probably be gone quickly, its cultural impression will proceed to be felt.
Disney and Smith didn’t reply to requests for remark.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to assist with an preliminary draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the data earlier than publishing.
