Hulu Names New President: Disney+’s Joe Earley
Disney has named Joe Earley, most recently the executive vp marketing and operations at Disney+, as president of Hulu, the company said Wednesday.
Earley succeeds former Hulu chief Kelly Campbell, who left the company in October to become the president of NBCUniversal’s Peacock.
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The Hulu appointment comes as part of a major executive reorganization in Disney’s streaming division. Earley will report to Michael Paull, who has been promoted to a new role overseeing Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Star+ as president of Disney Streaming.
The company is also creating an international content hub led by Rebecca Campbell (no relation to Kelly Campbell), who has been named Disney’s chairman of international content and operations. In this position, Campbell — reporting to Disney CEO Bob Chapek — will focus on local and regional content production for Disney’s streaming division in addition to leading the company’s international media teams in the Asia Pacific, EMEA, India and Latin America.
Disney is also expected to appoint a new head of Disney+ — a role previously filled by Paull — while Russell Wolff will continue to oversee ESPN+. Both of these positions will report up to Paull.
As for Hulu, Earley will join the streamer as Disney continues its focus on boosting its bundled offering of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ together, even as some observers over the past year have called for an all-in-one streaming service from Disney. Though Disney+ has the most subscribers at 118 million, Hulu is the streamer responsible for the most average revenue per user, with Q4 revenue figures hitting $84.89 and $12.75 per user for the live TV and SVOD-only subscription tiers, respectively.
Earley will also join Hulu as Disney prepares to buy out Comcast’s minority stake in the streamer for upwards of $13 billion in the next few years.
“I am excited to embark on this new era at Hulu, a streaming pioneer that over the past 15 years has distinguished itself with an unrivaled offering of groundbreaking, award-winning series and films from our talented content partners,” Earley said in a statement. “I have been a longtime Hulu subscriber and fan and have admired the unbridled creativity of the service’s content and culture, and I’m looking forward to the exciting opportunities that lie ahead, collaborating with our content studios, and tapping into the full power and strength of The Walt Disney Company.”
