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Hulu () is an American
subscription streaming service majority-owned by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
, with
Comcast's
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primaril ...
holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series like
20th Century Studios,
Searchlight Pictures
Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...
,
Disney Television Studios
Disney Television Studios is the television studio arm of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company established on May 15, 2019 to succeed Walt Disney Television following Disney's acquisition of 21st Centur ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
Freeform, and
FX Networks
FX Networks, LLC, is a company consisting of a network of cable channels plus a production company and a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content segment of The Walt Disney Company. Originally a part of 21st Century Fox, the compan ...
among others, as well as
Hulu original programming
Beginning in 2011, streaming service Hulu began to produce its own original content. The first production released was the web series '' The Morning After'', a light-hearted pop-culture news show. In 2012, Hulu announced that it would begin air ...
.
Hulu was initially established as a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
between
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...
and
NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
,
Providence Equity Partners, and later
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
, serving as an aggregation of recent episodes of television series from their respective
television network
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...
s. In 2010, Hulu launched a subscription service, initially
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...
ed as "Hulu Plus", which featured full seasons of programs from the companies and other partners, and undelayed access to new episodes. In 2017, the company launched ''Hulu with Live TV''—an
over-the-top
An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms: the types of companies that traditionally act as controllers or distributors ...
live TV service featuring
linear television
Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule.
Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...
channels.
, Hulu has a total of 47.2 million subscribers.
Etymology
The name Hulu comes from two
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
characters, ''húlu'' (
葫芦/
葫蘆), "
calabash
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...
; bottle gourd", and ''hùlù'' (
互录/
互錄), "interactive recording".
Jason Kilar
Jason Alan Kilar (; born April 26, 1971) is an American businessman. He was the CEO of WarnerMedia from May 2020 to April 2022. He was previously an Amazon executive, the founding CEO of the short-lived Vessel, and the CEO of Hulu.
Early life ...
, who served as CEO of Hulu, said the name comes from a
Chinese proverb:
History
Early years
Individuals who were instrumental in the founding of Hulu include Bruce Campbell, Peter Chernin, JB Perrette,
Mike Lang,
Beth Comstock
Elizabeth "Beth" Comstock is an American business executive. She is a former vice chair of General Electric. She operated GE Business Innovations, which developed new businesses, markets and service models; drives brand value and partners to enha ...
, George Kliavkoff, Darren Feher, and
Jason Kilar
Jason Alan Kilar (; born April 26, 1971) is an American businessman. He was the CEO of WarnerMedia from May 2020 to April 2022. He was previously an Amazon executive, the founding CEO of the short-lived Vessel, and the CEO of Hulu.
Early life ...
. Hulu was announced in March 2007 with
AOL,
NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
(then co-owned by
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
and
Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
),
MSN
MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95.
The Microsoft Net ...
,
Myspace, and
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...
planned as "initial distribution partners". Jason Kilar was named Hulu CEO in late 2007.
The name ''Hulu'' was chosen in late August 2007, when the website went live with an announcement only and no content. It invited users to leave their email addresses for the upcoming
beta test
A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...
. In October 2007, Hulu began the private beta testing by invitation, and later allowed users to invite friends. Hulu launched for public access in the United States on March 12, 2008.
The first product to launch was the HULU Syndication network, which was designed and developed by the NBC Universal team from New York, on October 29, 2007, led by Tom Sharma, followed by the Hulu.com destinations site.
Hulu began an advertising campaign during NBC's broadcast of
Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
with an initial ad starring
Alec Baldwin titled "Alec in Huluwood".
Advertisements have since aired featuring
Eliza Dushku
Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Faith in the supernatural drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) and its spin-off series ''Angel'' (2000–2003). She als ...
,
Seth MacFarlane,
Denis Leary
Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. A native of Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole") and throu ...
, and
Will Arnett
William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular char ...
.
In July 2007,
Providence Equity Partners, the owner of
Newport Television, became one of the earliest "outside" investors by purchasing a 10 percent stake in the company for US$100 million
equity investment
A stock trader or equity trader or share trader, also called a stock investor, is a person or company involved in trading equity securities and attempting to profit from the purchase and sale of those securities. Stock traders may be an invest ...
, before the company was known as "Hulu".
With its investment came a seat on the board of directors, where Providence was said to act as an "independent voice on the board".
In April 2009,
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
joined the Hulu consortium as a stakeholder, with plans to offer content from
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
and
Disney Channel.
Early in 2010, Hulu chief executive Jason Kilar said the service had made a profit in two quarters and that the company could top $100 million in revenue by summer 2010, more than its income for all of 2009.
ComScore says monthly video streams reached 903 million in January 2010, over three times the figure for a year earlier,
and second only to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
.
On August 16, 2010, a report revealed that Hulu was planning an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
(IPO) which could value the company at more than $2 billion.
On June 21, 2011, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that an "unsolicited offer" caused Hulu to begin "weighing whether to sell itself". However, on October 13, 2011, Hulu and its owners announced that they would not sell the company, as none of the bidders offered an amount that was satisfactory to its owners. In September of that year, the service launched in
Japan; marking Hulu's first international expansion.
Hulu generated $420 million in revenue in 2011, $80 million short of the company's target. The vacant CEO post was officially filled by former Fox Networks President Mike Hopkins on October 17, 2013.
In October 2012, Providence sold its 10 percent stake to "Hulu's media owners" and ceased participation in the board.
On February 27, 2014,
Nippon Television Network Corporation
JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed sub ...
acquired Hulu's Japanese business. The service would retain the "Hulu" brand and technology in Japan under a subsidiary of Nippon as part of a separate agreement.
On August 3, 2016,
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
acquired 10 percent stake of Hulu. On April 15, 2019,
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
(via
WarnerMedia
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
) sold its 9.5% stake in Hulu back to the company for $1.43 billion,
in order to shift its focus to its own service,
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
.
Hopkins exited and was named Sony Pictures TV Chairman. Fox Networks Group COO Randy Freer was named CEO on October 24, 2017.
Disney majority ownership
In March 2019, Disney
acquired 21st Century Fox, giving it a 60%
majority stake
A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the major ...
in Hulu.
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
(which acquired Time Warner in 2018) sold back its roughly 10% stake the following month leaving Disney with 67% and Comcast with 33%. Comcast, the only other shareholder, announced on May 14, 2019, that it had agreed to cede its control to Disney, and reached an agreement for Disney to purchase its 33% stake in the company as early as 2024.
![Huluownership](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Huluownership.jpg)
On May 14, 2019, Comcast relinquished its control in Hulu to Disney effective immediately. As a result, the streaming service became a division of
Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International
Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED), formerly Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International (DTCI), is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments consisting of Disney's streaming services and overseas media busi ...
(DTCI) with Comcast effectively becoming a
silent partner
A silent partner is one who shares in the profits and losses of a business, but is not involved in its management.
Silent partner or Silent Partners may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Silent Partner'', a 2005 film starring Tara Reid ...
. Under the agreement, Comcast's 33% stake can be sold to Disney at
fair market value
The fair market value of property is the price at which it would change hands between a willing and informed buyer and seller. The term is used throughout the Internal Revenue Code, as well as in bankruptcy laws, in many state laws, and by sever ...
as early as 2024. The fair market value will be determined at that time, but Disney guaranteed a minimum valuation of the entire company at $27.5 billion (valuing the Comcast stake as worth at least $9.075 billion).
Randy Freer would report to Disney executive
Kevin Mayer
Kevin Mayer (, or , born 10 February 1992) is a French athlete. He is two-time world champion (2017, 2022), two-time Olympic silver medalist ( 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo) and world record holder in the decathlon. He is also a world and ...
.
In the wake of the deal, Disney CEO
Bob Iger explained that direct integration of Hulu with Disney's studios would allow increased investments in original content, which would in turn allow it to "make the service even more compelling and a greater value for consumers".
Disney stated that its control of Hulu was the third major component of its direct-to-consumer strategy, complementing its sports streaming service
ESPN+, and its then-forthcoming
Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
. Hulu would be oriented towards "general" entertainment and content targeting mature audiences.
NBCUniversal will continue to license its content to the service through at least 2024, but it will have the option to begin transitioning its exclusivity deals with Hulu to non-exclusive terms beginning in 2020, and to end other content deals beginning in 2022.
![Kelly Campbell on AdWeek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Kelly_Campbell_on_AdWeek.jpg)
On July 31, 2019, Disney reorganized Hulu's reporting structure, placing Hulu's Scripted Originals team under
Walt Disney Television
Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enter ...
. Under the new structure, Hulu's SVP of Original Scripted Content would report directly to the chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment.
As of November 2019,
FX and
Fox Searchlight
Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...
were assigned to supply Hulu with content. In January 2020, Disney eliminated the role of Hulu CEO, with its top executives to report directly to DTCI and Walt Disney Television. On January 31, 2020, Freer resigned as CEO of Hulu and the position was eliminated; Hulu's top executives now report directly to DTCI and Walt Disney Television.
In June 2021, it was reported that Comcast had accused Disney of undermining Hulu's growth and value by not engaging in international expansion of the service, having instead added the
Star brand as an extension of Disney+ in selected markets.
In August 2021, Disney CEO
Bob Chapek
Robert Alan Chapek (born 1960) is an American media executive who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from 2020 to 2022.
Before becoming CEO, Chapek had a 26-year career with The Walt Disney Company, beginning in th ...
suggested that Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ could similarly be merged in the future, citing that the existing bundle offering of the services had a lower rate of
churn
Churn may refer to:
* Churn drill, large-diameter drilling machine large holes appropriate for holes in the ground
Dairy-product terms
* Butter churn, device for churning butter
* Churning (butter), the process of creating butter out of mil ...
than the individual services, but in the U.S. "there may also be certain constraints that we're under that could at least, from a short-term standpoint, limit our ability to do what long term we might feel was ideal, but frankly we don't know what’s ideal yet."
On September 7, 2021, Hulu announced that the prices of its main video on-demand and ad-free plans would increase by $1 each to $6.99 and $12.99 per-month beginning October 8.
In October 2021, Hulu president Kelly Campbell resigned, and was subsequently appointed the president of NBCUniversal's competing service
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
. In its third-quarter earnings report, Comcast CFO Mike Cavanagh stated of Hulu that they were "happy to be along for that ride", and projected that "It’ll be fine if we stay until the end because I expect the value to keep increasing."
On November 22, 2021, Disney and
WarnerMedia
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
reached a deal to let select
20th Century Studios and
Searchlight Pictures
Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...
films stream on Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max in 2022. On the same day, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that Comcast was considering pulling some content from Hulu to boost their Peacock streaming service. On March 4, 2022, it was reported that NBCUniversal will pull content from Hulu and move them to Peacock, beginning in September. In January 2022, Joe Earley became president of Hulu.
In September 2022, Chapek indicated that Disney is considering merging Hulu into Disney+ because the model had been successful outside the United States without any content friction.
To accelerate the plan, he said that Disney would love to buy out Comcast's 33.3% stake in Hulu earlier than their previously agreed 2024 timeline. However, Comcast had not offered reasonable terms for an early buyout and had instead expressed interest in buying Hulu themselves if it were for sale.
Content
Original content
From January 17, 2011, to April 24, 2014, Hulu streamed its own in-house web series ''
The Morning After'', a light-hearted pop-culture news show. It was produced by Hulu in conjunction with
Jace Hall
Jason "Jace" Hall is an American film, television and video game producer.
Career
Hall was one of the founders of Monolith Productions and is CEO of record keeping platform Twin Galaxies. His music video "I Play W.O.W" was featured on IGN's Y ...
's HDFilms and stars Brian Kimmet and
Ginger Gonzaga
Ginger Gonzaga (born May 17, 1983) is an American comedian and actress. She plays Nikki Ramos, best friend of Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk in the Disney+ series '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law''.
Early life
Gonzaga grew up in Modesto, California, w ...
. Producing the show was a first for the company, which in the past has been primarily a content distributor.
On January 16, 2012, Hulu announced that it would be airing its first original script based program, titled ''
Battleground'', which premiered in February 2012. The program aired on Hulu's free web service rather than on the subscription-based
Hulu Plus
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series l ...
. ''Battleground'' is described as a documentary-style political drama.
Later that same month, Hulu announced it would air ''The Fashion Fund'', a six-part reality series, and the winner of the show would receive $300,000 to start their career.
To continue with its original programming movement, Hulu announced that there would be a total of seven original programs that were planned to air on its service: ''Battleground'', ''Day in the Life'', and ''Up to Speed'' were previously mentioned; and on April 19, Hulu added four more shows to its list: ''Don't Quit Your Daydream'', ''Flow'', ''The Awesomes'', and ''We Got Next''. Some of these programs began airing in 2012, while others premiered over the next few years.
On May 21, 2012, Hulu announced it would be bringing
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...
to its lineup of original programming. Smith hosts a movie discussion show titled ''
Spoilers'', which began airing in mid-2012.
In March 2016,
Lionsgate Premiere and Hulu jointly acquired distribution rights to the film ''
Joshy
Joshiy (born 18 July 1952) is an Indian film director and producer from Varkala in Kerala who works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. He made his debut with ''Tiger Salim'' (1978) and has directed over 80 films. He has also directe ...
'', which was later released on August 12, 2016.
On May 4, 2016, Hulu acquired ''
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week'', as its first documentary acquisition, as part of a planned Hulu Documentary Films collection.
The film premiered theatrically on September 15, before debuting on the streaming service on September 17.
Since September 2022, selected International programs that released on
Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
’s
Star Hub and
Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
original International content that is over the rating limit (maximum TV-14 and PG-13) in United States market begins to release on Hulu.
Content partners
Following the start of its service, Hulu signed deals with several new content providers making additional material available to consumers. On April 30, 2009,
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
announced that it would join the venture, purchasing a 27 percent stake in Hulu.
Starting August 15, 2011, viewers of content from Fox and related networks are required to authenticate paid cable or satellite service wherever Fox streams episodes, including on Hulu, to be able to watch them the morning after the first airing. Non-subscribers will see those episodes delayed a week before they are viewable.
On October 28, 2011, Hulu announced that they had inked a five-year deal with
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
, giving the streaming site access to next-day content from five of the six major networks. On September 18, 2013, Hulu announced a multi-year deal with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
that would deliver 2,000 episodes from 144 different titles in the first 12 months.
In 2015, Hulu began offering content from
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
for an additional $8.99/month, which is cheaper than Showtime's own streaming service. On June 16, 2016, Hulu announced a deal with the Disney-ABC Television Group for the exclusive SVOD rights to past seasons of seven Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD series, and more than 20 Disney Channel original movies.
The CW's agreement with Hulu ended September 18, 2016; in-season streaming of current CW programs moved to the network's own digital platforms, and Netflix began to carry past seasons of The CW's programs through 2019. , a limited amount of content from
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
's library is available on-demand, mostly limited to shows that are no longer producing new episodes. On January 4, 2017, it was reported that a deal was reached to bring live broadcasts of CBS and several affiliated channels to Hulu's upcoming live streaming service as well as to make more shows available on-demand.
In April 2018, Hulu announced a partnership with
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
that allows users to purchase both streaming services for a discounted price per month. This discount also includes an even larger discounted rate for university students.
Hulu distributes video on its own website and syndicates its hosting to other sites, and allows users to embed Hulu clips on their websites.
In addition to NBC, ABC and Fox programs and movies, Hulu carries shows from networks:
A&E,
Big Ten Network,
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
,
E!,
Fox Sports 2
Fox Sports 2 (FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in the Century Cit ...
,
FX,
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
,
NFL Network
NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...
,
Oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...
,
RT America
RT America was a U.S.-based news channel headquartered in Washington, D.C. Owned by TV Novosti and operated by production company T&RProductions, it was a part of the RT network, a global multilingual television news network based in Moscow fund ...
,
Fox Sports 1
Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports ...
,
SundanceTV
Sundance TV (formerly known as Sundance Channel) is an American pay television channel owned by AMC Networks that launched on February 1, 1996. The channel is named after Robert Redford's character in ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' and, w ...
,
Syfy,
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
,
NBCSN, and online comedy sources such as
Onion News Network
''Onion News Network'' is a parody television news show that ran for two seasons of ten episodes each, both during 2011, on the Independent Film Channel.
History
In March 2007, ''The Onion'' launched ''The Onion News Network'', a daily web v ...
.
Hulu retains between thirty and fifty percent of advertising revenue generated by the shows it distributes.
In November 2009, Hulu also began to establish partnerships with record labels to host music videos and concert performances on the site, including
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
in November 2009,
and
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
in December 2009.
In early March 2010,
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
announced that it was pulling two of the website's most popular shows, ''
The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...
'' and ''
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
'', off Hulu.
['' New York Daily News'' article:]
Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show' and 'The Colbert Report' off Hulu
." The programs had been airing on Hulu since late 2008.
A spokesman for
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
noted that "in the current economic model, there is not that much in it for us to continue at this time. If they can get to the point where the monetization model is better, then we may go back."
[Multichannel News article:]
Dauman: Vivendi Could Return To Hulu
" In February 2011, both shows were made available for streaming on Hulu again. ''The Daily Show'' was again removed from Hulu in March 2017 in order to push viewers to watch the program on Viacom and Comedy Central's apps.
In 2012,
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
,
Aniplex of America
Aniplex of America Inc. or Aniplex USA is the U.S. distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an anime and music production company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was established in March 2005 in Santa Monica, California, with the goal o ...
, and other distributors teamed up to create
Neon Alley
Neon Alley was an American digital anime service run by Viz Media. The service began as a 24-hour linear web channel dedicated to showing English dubbed anime series in uncut and uncensored formats. It later evolved into a Hulu-based streaming ...
. It had launched on October 2, 2012, as a 24/7 web channel, but in 2014 it had switched to Hulu-only. The site contained exclusive dub premieres with anime such as ''
Accel World'', ''
Blue Exorcist
is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Kazue Kato. The story revolves around Rin Okumura, a teenager who discovers he and his twin brother Yukio are the sons of Satan, born from a human woman, and he is the i ...
'', ''
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic'', ''
Fate/Zero'' and the uncut version of ''
Sailor Moon''. It also had shows such as ''
Naruto
''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...
'' and ''
Naruto: Shippuden'', ''
Death Note'', ''
Inuyasha
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in fifty-six '' ...
'', ''
Bakuman
is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, the same creative team responsible for ''Death Note''. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from August 2 ...
'', ''
Ranma ½
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 1987 to March 1996, with the chapters collected into 38 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. The s ...
'', ''
One Piece
''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual cha ...
'', ''
One Punch Man
is a Japanese superhero manga series created by One. It tells the story of Saitama, a superhero who, because he can defeat any opponent with a single punch, grows bored from a lack of challenge. One wrote the original webcomic manga ve ...
'', and ''
Bleach''. It went defunct on May 4, 2016. However, Hulu still hosts over 300 anime from
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
,
Aniplex of America
Aniplex of America Inc. or Aniplex USA is the U.S. distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an anime and music production company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was established in March 2005 in Santa Monica, California, with the goal o ...
,
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
, and
Sentai Filmworks
Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...
, and selected anime began resume to release on Hulu following the deal between Disney and Sony Pictures since 2021.
In April 2017, Hulu signed a first-run license deal with
Annapurna Pictures
Annapurna Pictures is an independent American media company founded by Megan Ellison in 2011, that specializes in film production, live theatre production, television through its Annapurna Television division, and video game publishing through i ...
. Hulu also has output deals with
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its ...
and
Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment.
Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Ma ...
.
New releases from 20th Century Studios will not immediately be available on either Disney+ or Hulu, as it has an existing output deal with
HBO until 2022.
Hulu in May 2018 announced its first-ever license deal with
DreamWorks Animation, becoming the exclusive streaming home for future DWA movies feature films, as well as library films. DWA had streamed exclusively through Netflix since 2013.
Films will be available on the service in 2019, while original series will be available later in 2020.
In October 2018,
PocketWatch
A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist.
They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatc ...
launched 90 22-minute episodes of repackaged content from their YouTube creator partners on Hulu and
Amazon Prime Video and partnered with
Paramount Pictures to license them to international distributors.
On December 4, 2018, Hulu confirmed an exclusive multi-year first-look SVOD deal with
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
.
In June 2019, Hulu and
FX signed an output deal with
Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
, where Hulu and FX would respectably gain the streaming and TV rights to films released under the Lionsgate label in 2020 and 2021.
In August 2019, Hulu agreed to control the streaming rights to upcoming films released by
Bleecker Street.
On March 2, 2020, Hulu launched a dedicated "hub" for content from FX branded as "
FX on Hulu
FX Networks, LLC, is a company consisting of a network of cable channels plus a production company and a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content segment of The Walt Disney Company. Originally a part of 21st Century Fox, the comp ...
", with the service becoming the exclusive streaming outlet for current and past series from the network. Beginning with ''
Breeders
A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...
'', new episodes of FX original series also become available on Hulu immediately after their television airing, and selected series will also premiere exclusively on the service.
On January 14, 2021, it was announced that following an exclusive 3-week
IMAX engagement,
Searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
's ''
Nomadland
''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand ...
'' would be released on Hulu alongside a regular limited theatrical and drive-in run in the United States on February 19.
On April 21, 2021, Disney reached a deal for television and streaming rights to
Sony Pictures films from 2022 through 2026, which includes library rights for some of its franchises like ''
Spider-Man'', ''
Jumanji
''Jumanji'' is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston from a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain. Loosely based on Chris Van Allsburg's picture book of the same name, the film is the first ...
'' and ''
Hotel Transylvania
''Hotel Transylvania'' is an American animated media franchise created by comedy writer Todd Durham and produced by Sony Pictures Animation. It consists of four feature films, three short films, a flash-animated TV series, and several video ...
'' franchises, etc., and licensing anime under
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
and
Crunchyroll brands and anime released by
Aniplex of America
Aniplex of America Inc. or Aniplex USA is the U.S. distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an anime and music production company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was established in March 2005 in Santa Monica, California, with the goal o ...
, and post-pay-one window rights to new releases (after their exclusivity period with Netflix expires). This deal covers Disney+, Hulu, and Disney's television channels. On May 17, 2021, it started
Onyx Collective
Onyx Collective is a content brand owned and operated by Disney Entertainment, which primarily consists of projects from creators of color and other underrepresented groups. The brand was first launched on May 17, 2021, with several projects under ...
which is a content brand for creators.
On August 31, 2021, Disney announced that it would fold the U.S. version of
Hotstar
Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both d ...
—a niche streaming service targeting
Indian Americans
Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...
—in late-2022, with its
original entertainment content migrating to Hulu. Since August 2021,
Star India Networks programming has been available to Hulu subscribers.
Services
Hulu on demand service
Hulu's subscription service was launched in
beta (preview) on June 29, 2010, and officially launched on November 17, 2010, under the branding Hulu Plus. The service remained advertising-supported, but it offers an expanded content library including full seasons, day-after access to current season content and more episodes of shows available. Hulu also launched Hulu Plus apps on other types of devices, including mobile,
digital media players, and
video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...
s. By the end of 2011, Hulu Plus had around 1.5 million subscribers.
On April 29, 2015, it was announced that the "Hulu Plus" branding would be discontinued, and that the service would be henceforth marketed as simply "Hulu" to place it in-line with its subscription-only competitors. By then, the service had grown to 9 million subscribers.
The ''Wall Street Journal'' reported in July 2015 that Hulu was exploring an advertising-free subscription option for around $12 to $14 a month. This was confirmed as going forward , with a "No Commercials" plan priced at $11.99, $4 more than the $7.99 monthly rate for a "Limited Commercials" subscription, though a few highlighted network series (fewer than 10) would retain pre-roll and post-roll ad pods. Starting in 2019, Hulu plans to begin displaying on-screen ads when the viewer pauses the show, although it is unclear whether this will apply to customers on the $11.99/month No Ads plan.
In May 2016, Hulu announced that it had reached 12 million subscribers. In January 2018, Hulu announced that it had reached 17 million subscribers.
On August 8, 2016, Hulu announced that it would discontinue its free video on-demand content, and syndicate it to
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...
on a new website known as
Yahoo! View
The company Yahoo! ran several similar video services. Yahoo! Video, a video hosting service, was established in 2006. Later, the ability to upload videos was removed, changing it to a more pure video on demand service; the website became a port ...
. This service featured recent episodes of ABC, Fox, and NBC series until its 2019 discontinuation. The Hulu website is now devoted exclusively to the subscription service.
In May 2018, Hulu introduced
5.1 surround sound
5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dol ...
on select devices for its original content. In December 2016 Hulu began streaming content in
4K, also limited to its original content. 4K video was quietly rolled back in 2018, and reintroduced in July 2019. Hulu added
HDR for some of its original content in August 2021.
On January 23, 2019, Hulu announced a $2 price drop for the basic ad-supported plan to $5.99. The $5.99 monthly plan has previously been offered as a promotional offer since late 2017 where users that signed up (or reactivated accounts that had previously ended their service) during the offer period would keep the price for an entire year before paying the regular rate.
Since the launch of Disney+ in November 2019, the service has been available in the United States in a bundle with Hulu and ESPN+, priced at US$12.99 per-month for the ad-supported tier of Hulu, and US$18.99 for the ad-free tier of Hulu.
On September 7, 2021, Disney announced that Hulu will be getting a price increase on October 8, 2021. The ad-supported Hulu plan will increase from $5.99 to $6.99 a month, while the ad-free Hulu plan will increase from $11.99 to $12.99 a month. The Hulu live TV plan and the Disney bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu with ads and ESPN+ for $13.99 a month, will not get a price increase at this time.
Hulu + Live TV service
On May 4, 2016, Hulu announced that it planned to begin offering an
over-the-top
An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms: the types of companies that traditionally act as controllers or distributors ...
"live programming from broadcast and cable brands" some time in 2017.
On November 1, 2016, co-owners
21st Century Fox, including
Fox Networks Group
Fox Networks Group (FNG) is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company that oversees international television assets that were acquired from 21st Century Fox. It produces and distributes more than 300 entertainment, film, sports and factual channe ...
(
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
,
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
,
Fox News Channel,
FX Networks
FX Networks, LLC, is a company consisting of a network of cable channels plus a production company and a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content segment of The Walt Disney Company. Originally a part of 21st Century Fox, the compan ...
, and
National Geographic) and
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
, including
Disney–ABC Television Group
Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enterta ...
and
ESPN Inc.
ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder. For management and financial reporting purposes, the company is the main entity wit ...
(
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
Disney Channel,
Disney Junior
Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven y ...
,
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...
,
Freeform,
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
,
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%).
ESPN2 was initially fo ...
,
ESPNU,
SEC Network
The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...
, and
ESPN3) agreed to supply their channels to the streaming service, joined by
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
, including
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
(
TBS,
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
,
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...
,
TruTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows.
The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that fo ...
,
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
HLN,
CNN International
CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inte ...
,
Cartoon Network,
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
, and
Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...
) on August 3, 2016, which previously reached an agreement with Hulu.
The service, originally marketed as "Hulu with Live TV," launched in
beta on May 3, 2017, along with
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primaril ...
(
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
,
Cozi TV,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
,
Oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...
,
SYFY,
Sprout, and
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...
),
A+E Networks
A&E Networks (stylized as A+E NETWORKS) is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company ...
(
A&E,
History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
, and
Lifetime),
CBS Corporation
The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and ...
(
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
,
Pop TV
Pop TV is a Slovenian generalist television channel operated by Pro Plus d.o.o., a subsidiary of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which is in turn owned by Czech investment company PPF.
News programs
POP TV's current news programmin ...
,
Smithsonian Channel
The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facili ...
, and
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
), and
Scripps Networks Interactive (
Cooking Channel
Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting ...
,
Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...
, and
HGTV). It was later renamed to "Hulu + Live TV." The service included live streams of more than 75 broadcast and cable-originated channels, including feeds of the five major broadcast networks – ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW – as well as cable channels owned by Hulu co-parents
Comcast's NBCUniversal and The Walt Disney Company, along with
NFL Network
NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...
,
Paramount Global
Paramount Global ( doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. ...
with Showtime, A+E Networks,
Fox Corporation
Fox Corporation (stylized in all-caps as FOX Corporation) is a publicly traded American mass media company operated and controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Incorporated ...
,
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
with
HBO,
Cinemax
Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...
, and Starz available as add-ons for an extra fee. Hulu representatives stated that it intends to negotiate carriage agreements with independently owned broadcasting groups to gain distribution rights to local stations from additional markets.
By May 2018, the service had reached 800,000 subscribers.
On November 29, 2018, Hulu + Live TV now adds Discovery Networks (
Discovery
Discovery may refer to:
* Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown
* Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown
* Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence
Discovery, The Discover ...
,
TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
,
MotorTrend
''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949.
Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 1998, when it was sold to ...
,
Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily ...
and
Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Amer ...
) for the prices on the bundles featuring the new channels won't change, Discovery will be joining Scripps Networks Interactive. While the $40 per month Hulu With Live TV core package will get the five aforementioned channels, more of Discovery brand channels will also be available through add-on packages.
Destination America
Destination America is an American cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programming focused on the culture of the United States—including food, lifestyles, an ...
,
Discovery Family,
Science Channel
Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, man ...
,
Discovery Life
Discovery Life is an American cable television network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on February 1, 2011 as Discovery Fit & Health, it was the result of the merger of Discovery Health Channel and FitTV (following the former's replace ...
, and
American Heroes Channel
American Heroes Channel (formerly Military Channel and originally Discovery Wings Channel) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries pr ...
are in the Entertainment add-on for $7.99 per month.
Discovery en Español
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...
and
Discovery Familia
Discovery Familia (previously stylized as DFamiİia) is an American Spanish-language family-oriented specialty television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network launched on August 9, 2007.
The channel airs preschool-intended pr ...
have been added to the $4.99-per-month Spanish language package.
In the third quarter of 2019, Hulu overtook
Sling TV
Sling TV is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor aim ...
as the top OTT pay television service in the United States, with 2.7 million subscribers.
The service was initially priced at $39.99 per-month. In December 2019, the price had been increased to $54.99 per month (after having previously been raised to $44.99).
In November 2020, the rate for Hulu + Live TV increased to $64.99 per month. Along with the ad-free plan with Live TV included, which is now $70.99.
On January 19, 2021,
Nexstar's
NewsNation launched on Hulu + Live TV.
On April 30, 2021, the service added nine ViacomCBS (now Paramount) networks (
BET
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
,
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
,
MTV,
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
,
Paramount Network
Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles.
The channel was ...
,
VH1,
CMT,
Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
, and
TV Land
TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...
) to the base package, along with
BET Her
BET Her (formerly Centric) is an American basic cable television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. The network is a spin-off of BET with a focus on general entertainment targeting African-American women.
The channel originally launched ...
,
MTV2,
MTV Classic MTV Classic may refer to:
*MTV Classic (American TV channel), a television channel that replaced VH1 Classic on August 1, 2016
*MTV Classic (Australian TV channel), a television channel previously named VH1 Australia until May 2010, and shut down i ...
,
Nicktoons
Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...
and
TeenNick
TeenNick is an American pay-TV channel that is operated by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Aimed primarily at teens and tweens, its programming includes a variety of live-action series inherited from sister channel Nic ...
on the Entertainment add-on.
On November 10, 2021, Disney stated that Hulu + Live TV had reached four million subscribers.
On December 21, 2021, Unlimited DVR, Disney+ and ESPN+ will be included with Hulu + Live TV moving forward, but the price of the service will be increased by $5.
On November 14, 2022, Hulu announced that it had added
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...
and Comedy.TV on November 1st and
Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...
and
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (formerly known as Hallmark Movie Channel, and also known as HMM) is an American digital cable and satellite television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings. The channel was spun off from sister network Hallmark Chan ...
effective November 14th.
Hallmark Drama
Hallmark Drama is an American cable television channel owned by Hallmark Cards' Crown Media Holdings. It is the sister channel to Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and focuses on family-friendly dramatic storytelling.
History ...
also became available in the Entertainment Add-On. Hulu also announced that on December 1, 2022, five Vevo music video channels will be launched, along with
theGrio Television Network, JusticeCentral.TV, and The Weather Channel en Español.
Viewership
Viewership numbers for the site are tracked by measurement firms such as
ComScore,
Nielsen ratings, and
Quantcast
Quantcast is an American technology company, founded in 2006, that specializes in AI-driven real-time advertising, audience insights and measurement. It has offices in the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Ireland, Fran ...
. In partnership with comScore, Hulu is the first digital company to receive multi-platform measurement at an individual level that includes co-viewing for living room devices.
The reliability of these metrics has been drawn into question, partly due to widely divergent estimates. For example, between May and June 2010, ComScore updated its scoring methodology and its estimates for Hulu. Hulus viewers would go from 43.5 million to 24 million in one month. In a comScore digital trends report in 2010, comScore's Digital Year in Review report found that Hulu was watched twice as much as viewers who watched on the websites of the five major TV networks combined.
Hulu in May 2018 announced it has surpassed 20 million subscribers in the United States.
The tally, which puts the company about 36 million subscriptions behind Netflix, was disclosed at a media presentation at the newly named Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hulu said it has grown total engagement by more than 60%, with 78% of viewing taking place in the living room on connected TVs.
Awards
Hulu original series
''The Handmaid's Tale'' won two awards at the
33rd annual Television Critics Association Awards for
Program of the Year and
Outstanding Achievement in Drama. At the
69th Primetime Emmy Awards, Hulu earned a total of eight awards for the series and became the first streaming service to win
Outstanding Drama Series. ''The Handmaid's Tale'' also received Emmys for
Outstanding Directing,
Outstanding Writing,
Outstanding Cinematography and
Outstanding Production Design.
Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...
won the Emmy for
Outstanding Lead Actress, and
Ann Dowd
Ann Dowd (born January 30, 1956) is an American actress. She has played supporting roles in numerous films, including ''Green Card'' (1990), ''Lorenzo's Oil'' (1992), ''Philadelphia'' (1993), '' Garden State'' (2004), '' The Manchurian Candidate' ...
the award for
Outstanding Supporting Actress. At the 75th Golden Globe Awards ''The Handmaid's Tale'' took home two awards, Best TV Drama and Best Actress in a Drama TV Series (Elisabeth Moss).
At the
2016 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards, Hulu's first-released documentary,
''The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years'' won the award for Best Music Documentary. The documentary also received
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
for
Best Music Film at the
2017 Grammy Awards
The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, ...
and Best Documentary at the 16th Annual Movies for Grownups Awards. At the
Creative Arts Emmys, the documentary earned two Emmys including
Outstanding Sound Editing and
Outstanding Sound Mixing.
At the
68th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2015 until May 31, 2016, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 18, 2016 at the Mi ...
, Hulu received its first Emmy Award nominations for its Original series, ''
11.22.63
''11.22.63'' is an American science fiction thriller miniseries based on the 2011 novel '' 11/22/63'' by Stephen King, and consisting of eight episodes, in which a time traveler attempts to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The series i ...
'' and for
''Triumph's Election Special 2016''. In 2016, Hulu received its first
Golden Globe nomination for its original series
''Casual'' for
TV series, Comedy.
In 2020, Hulu original series ''
The Bravest Knight
''The Bravest Knight'' is a 2D animated series, produced by Big Bad Boo Studios and a Hulu original which became the first kids original on the streaming service. The first episodes were added to the streaming service on June 21, 2019 and the o ...
'' won the
GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming
The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming is one of the annual GLAAD Media Awards which is offered to the best youth-oriented LGBT-related television series. The category was first established in 2018 at the 28th GLAAD Medi ...
.
''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Hulu its 'Best Live Streaming Service' of 2022.
References
External links
*
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