The streaming service posted a significant loss in 2017 after its parent companies Disney, 21st Century Fox, Comcast, and Time Warner invested $1 billion, according to a filing by Comcast. Hulu’s $920 million plummet starkly stands out against its loss of just $531 million in 2016.
But the bleeding won’t stop there. According to estimates reported by Variety, Hulu’s losses will continue to sink to about $1.7 billion in 2018, with its parent companies hoping to counterbalance that by investing $1.5 billion this year. As of last year, the streaming service said it had more than 17 million subscribers for its on-demand and live packages.
On its latest earnings call, Disney, which plans to launch its own streaming service in 2019, described the mounting losses on its Hulu investment. In particular, chief executive Bob Iger pointed to the high costs of licensing programming and Hulu’s “ramping up their volume” on original programming. He singled out The Handmaid’s Tale, which recently won eight Primetime Emmy Awards, as a sign that the bet was paying off.
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