Disney is at war with Netflix. That's what's behind the cancellation of several popular Marvel shows on Netflix, with Disney rolling out it's own streaming competitor for Marvel based shows.
That war began because the studios were losing money from DVD sales on account of Netflix. That's why the studios started delaying new releases to Netflix.
The studios responded to Netflix by competing directly with Netflix by becoming streaming outlets. To cut Netflix out as a distribution partner.
Netflix responded by becoming a studio, because they understand the studios mean to withhold content from Netflix.
So in a way, throwing money at Hulu, while taking a hit to income, works for Disney because it keeps the pressure on Netflix to keep on spending to out-compete their rivals.
Reminds me of the way Soviet Russia went broke trying to keep up with USA military spending.