Comcast and Disney have agreed to move up the start of negotiations that will determine the fate of their jointly-owned streaming service, Hulu, writes Jessica Toonkel for The Wall Street Journal.

The two media conglomerates will start negotiating a potential sale of the Center City-based company’s minority stake in Hulu to Disney on September 30. This would be months earlier than the previous January start date.

Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts believes that Hulu, which is home to such hit shows as The Handmaid’s Tale and The Bear, is worth more than $30 billion.

“No one has ever sold or auctioned off a pure-play streaming asset that is in this kind of position,” said Roberts. “That’s a scarce, kingmaker asset.”

The negotiations come at a time when entertainment companies are struggling to turn their streaming services profitable and determine how much are consumers willing to pay. At the same time, subscribers are leaving linear TV channels in droves, putting more pressure on companies to make their streaming services profitable.

The Hulu negotiations are expected to be long and complex, as Comcast and Disney have already been at odds over its valuation.

Read more about the negotiations in The Wall Street Journal.

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