Hulu
Hulu (/ˈhuːluː/) is an American subscription streaming media and content hub within the Disney+ streaming service owned by The Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007.
For the separate Japanese video-on-demand service that was spun off in 2014, see Hulu Japan.
Hulu was initially established as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBCUniversal, Providence Equity, and later The Walt Disney Company, serving as an aggregation of recent episodes of television series from their respective television broadcasting. In 2010, Hulu launched a subscription service, initially branded as "Hulu Plus", which featured full seasons of programs from the companies and other partners, and un-delayed access to new episodes. In 2017, the company launched Hulu with Live TV—an over-the-top live TV service featuring broadcast programming channels.
In 2011, Hulu launched its services in Japan, marking its first and only international expansion. Three years later in 2014, Hulu Japan was acquired by Nippon TV and spun off from its American counterpart.[2]
A beta hub of Hulu launched on Disney+ in the United States on December 6, 2023,[3] with a full release later followed on March 27, 2024.[4] The hub shares similarities with the Star hub that was previously launched on Disney+ in February 2021 outside the U.S. as a substitute to Hulu.
History[edit]
Early years (2007–2010)[edit]
Individuals who were instrumental in the founding of Hulu include Bruce Campbell,[7] Peter Chernin,[8] JB Perrette,[9] Mike Lang,[10] Beth Comstock, George Kliavkoff, Darren Feher, and Jason Kilar. Hulu was announced in March 2007 with AOL, NBCUniversal (then co-owned by General Electric and Vivendi), MSN, Myspace, and Yahoo! planned as "initial distribution partners". Jason Kilar was named Hulu CEO in late 2007.[11][12]
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.[13] In October 2007, Hulu began the private beta testing by invitation, and later allowed users to invite friends.[14] Hulu launched for public access in the United States on March 12, 2008.[15] 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 with an initial ad starring Alec Baldwin titled "Alec in Huluwood".[16] Advertisements have since aired featuring Eliza Dushku, Seth MacFarlane, Denis Leary, and Will Arnett.
In July 2007, Providence Equity, 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,[17] before the company was known as "Hulu".[18] With its investment came a seat on the board of directors, where Providence was said to act as an "independent voice on the board".[18] In April 2009, The Walt Disney Company joined the Hulu consortium as a stakeholder, with plans to offer content from ABC, ESPN and Disney Channel.[19][20][21][22]
Multiple joint ventures (2010–2019)[edit]
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,[23] and second only to YouTube.[24]
On August 16, 2010, a report revealed that Hulu was planning an initial public offering (IPO) which could value the company at more than $2 billion.[25][26]
In June 2011, an "unsolicited offer" caused Hulu to begin "weighing whether to sell itself".[27] However, Hulu and its owners refused to sell the company, as none of the bidders offered an amount that was satisfactory to its owners.[28] In September of that year, the service launched in Japan; marking Hulu's first international expansion.[29]
Hulu generated $420 million in revenue in 2011, $80 million short of the company's target.[30] The vacant CEO post was officially filled by former Fox Networks President Mike Hopkins on October 17, 2013.[31]
In October 2012, Providence sold its 10 percent stake to "Hulu's media owners" and ceased participation in the board.[18]
On February 27, 2014, Nippon Television Network Corporation 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.[32][29][33]
On August 3, 2016, Time Warner (later WarnerMedia, now Warner Bros. Discovery) acquired a 10 percent stake of Hulu.[34]
Hopkins exited and was named Sony Pictures TV Chairman.[35] Fox Networks Group COO Randy Freer was named CEO on October 24, 2017.[36]
Disney majority ownership (2019–2023)[edit]
On March 20, 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, giving it a 60% majority stake in Hulu.[22] On April 15, 2019, WarnerMedia sold its 10% stake in Hulu back to the company for $1.43 billion,[37] 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.[38]
Viewership[edit]
Viewership numbers for the site are tracked by measurement firms such as Comscore, Nielsen Media Research, and Quantcast. 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.[141] 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.[142]
Hulu in May 2018 announced it has surpassed 20 million subscribers in the United States.[90] 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[edit]
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.[143][144] 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.[145][146] The Handmaid's Tale also received Emmys for Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Cinematography and Outstanding Production Design. Elisabeth Moss won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress, and Ann Dowd the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress.[147][148] 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[149] (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.[150][151] The documentary also received Grammy Awards for Best Music Film at the 2017 Grammy Awards and Best Documentary at the 16th Annual Movies for Grownups Awards.[152][153] At the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the documentary earned two Emmys including Outstanding Sound Editing and Outstanding Sound Mixing.[154][155]
At the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2016, Hulu received its first Emmy Award nominations for its Original series, 11.22.63 and for Triumph's Election Special 2016.[156][157] In 2016, Hulu received its first Golden Globe Awards nomination for its original series Casual for TV series, Comedy.[158][159]
In 2020, Hulu original series The Bravest Knight won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming.[160]
U.S. News & World Report ranked Hulu its 'Best Live Streaming Service' of 2022.[161][162]