Comcast has collected what it hopes will be a first payment from Disney for its stake in Hulu, marking “the beginning of a process” to value the streamer, company President Mike Cavanagh said at a media conference Monday.The anticipated $8.61 billion dollar check arrived Friday, he told investors at a UBS media conference in NYC.Disney said it that it will acquire the remaining 33% stake in Hulu it doesn’t already own from the NBC Universal parent. A deal between the Hulu owners established a floor of that amount. Any additional payout, or not, will depend on an evaluation process underway with both companies and their investment banks. The process was moved up — to this fall from January of 2024 — and the Disney check was due Dec. 1.The 2019 agreement included a put/call that allowed Comcast to ‘put’ its stake to Disney, or the Bob Iger-run company to buy it. Iger wasn’t sure at first but ultimately decided owning the asset in full made sense.The “check cleared, it’s in the account,” Cavanagh said. “We expect, and certainly hope to get more than that once the process ends. But it’s really just the beginning.”On streaming, Cavanagh said Peacock is at 30 million paying subscribers and said it will hit peak losses of $2.8 billion this year. It was at 28 million at Comcast’s last earnings report in October.Hitting on the film studio behind Oppenheimer, he said it’s possible there could be potential shifts in the release schedule but is upbeat on the 2024 slate. He praised strong leadership, good talent relationships and partnership with creators. “I think that our reliance, rather than on formulaic…has been more around originality and creativity,” he said, “and I think that feels a little bit like what the moment calls for in Hollywood.”
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