Hulu

### Services

Television production · Digital distribution · Media service provider · Web syndication

### Users rank

28 million
1 million (Live TV)

### Launched

October 29, 2007
(Hulu Syndication Network)
(Hulu.com destination site)

## Screenshot

**Hulu** is an American subscription video on demand service fully controlled and majority owned by Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International, a division of The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast as an equity stakeholder.

The service was initially established as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBC Universal, Providence Equity Partners, and later Disney, serving as an aggregation of recent episodes of television series from their respective television networks. 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 undelayed access to new episodes. In 2017, the company launched *Hulu with Live TV*—an over-the-top IPTV service featuring linear television channels. Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) later held a stake in the service. As of the first quarter of 2019, Hulu had 28 million subscribers.

In March 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, giving it a 60% majority stake in Hulu. AT&T (who now owns Time Warner's properties) sold back its roughly 10% stake the following month. Comcast, the only other shareholder in Hulu, announced on May 14, 2019, that it had agreed to cede its control of Hulu to Disney, and reached an agreement for Disney to purchase its 33% stake in the company as early as 2024. Hulu will be operated as a bridge brand alongside Disney's fellow OTT ventures Disney+ and ESPN+, with Hulu positioned as its streaming brand for general entertainment outside of Disney's family-oriented studios and properties.

## Name

The name Hulu comes from two Mandarin words, *húlú* (葫芦/葫蘆), "calabash; bottle gourd", and *hùlù* (互录/互錄), "interactive recording". The company blog explains:

> In Mandarin, *Hulu* has two interesting meanings, each highly relevant to our mission. The primary meaning interested us because it is used in an ancient Chinese proverb that describes the Hulu as the holder of precious things. It literally translates to "gourd," and in ancient times, the Hulu was hollowed out and used to hold precious things. The secondary meaning is "interactive recording". We saw both definitions as appropriate bookends and highly relevant to the mission of Hulu.
>
>

## History

Key executives instrumental in the founding of Hulu include Bruce Campbell, Peter Chernin, JB Perrette, Michael Lang, Beth Comstock and Jason Kilar. The venture was announced in March 2006 with AOL, NBC Universal, now Comcast, Facebook, MSN, Myspace, and Yahoo! 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. 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, 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." The ad intended to humorously reveal "the shocking secret behind Hulu," portraying the site as being an "evil plot to destroy the world" by suggesting that Baldwin is really an alien in disguise. Advertisements have since aired featuring Eliza Dushku, Seth MacFarlane, Denis Leary, and Will Arnett.

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, 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 joined the Hulu consortium as a stakeholder, with plans to offer content from ABC and Disney Channel.

In October 2012, Providence sold its 10 percent stake to "Hulu's media owners" and ceased participation in the board.

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.

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.

On June 21, 2011, *The Wall Street Journal* 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.

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.

### Disney ownership

In December 2017, Disney announced that they would acquire 21st Century Fox, including its 30% stake in Hulu, in a sale completed on March 20, 2019. The deal resulted in Disney having a controlling 60% interest in Hulu.

On April 15, 2019, AT&T (via WarnerMedia) sold back its 9.5% stake in Hulu for $1.43 billion. WarnerMedia plans its launch its own competing service featuring content from its Entertainment networks.

 File:Huluownership.jpg
On May 14, 2019, Comcast, the only remaining shareholder in Hulu besides Disney, announced that it would relinquish its control to Disney effective immediately. As a result, Hulu became a division of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International, with Comcast effectively becoming a silent partner. Under the agreement, Comcast's 33% stake can be sold to Disney at fair market value 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 stake as worth at least $5.8 billion). 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.

During its upfronts, NBCUniversal had announced its intent to launch its own ad-supported streaming service featuring new and library content: NBCU CEO Steve Burke explained that these arrangements "will generate significant cash flow for us, while giving us maximum flexibility to program and distribute to our own direct-to-consumer platform, as we build that business." Disney stated that its control of Hulu was the third major component of its direct-to-consumer strategy, complimenting ESPN+ and its forthcoming Disney+ service. Disney+ will focus specifically on family-friendly content from Disney's studios (not carrying "R-rated" content), while Hulu would remain oriented towards "general" entertainment. In the wake of the deal, Iger explained that direct integration of Hulu with Disney's studios would allow it to "make the service even more compelling and a greater value for consumers"

## International availability

In July 2010, the *Financial Times* revealed that Hulu had been working on plans for an international launch of Hulu Plus for several months, and had identified the UK and Japan as markets where its free website and subscription model could feasibly work. Hulu chief executive Jason Kilar expressed his belief that the US model could be replicated elsewhere, saying "We won't be satisfied until this is a global service." Hulu's first expansion into an international market took place with the launch of a service in Japan on September 1, 2011. On February 27, 2014, Nippon TV announced that it would acquire Hulu's Japanese business. The service would maintain the Hulu name under license, and Hulu would continue to provide its infrastructure and support to the service as a regional licensee. Nippon TV also planned to produce its own original content for the service.

As rights to its content are already held by other broadcasters, U.S.-based video on demand services are not usually available in Canada. Hulu also cited a small advertising market in Canada as reasoning. Rights to Hulu's original series have often been picked up by domestic broadcasters; for example, *The Mindy Project* was retained by its previous broadcast home, Citytv, after its move to Hulu, *The Handmaid's Tale* was acquired by Bell Media cable network Bravo (unrelated to the NBC-owned channel) and its streaming service Crave, and *The Path* by Showcase.

The lack of international operations had been considered a potential shortcoming of Hulu in comparison to competitors, such as Amazon Video and Netflix. During an earnings call on November 8, 2018, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that after its purchase of 20th Century Fox, it planned to make stronger investments into Hulu, including wider international expansion.

## See also

* Amazon Prime Video
* CBS All Access
* Digital rights management
* Netflix
* Seeso, a similar service launched by NBC Universal in 2016 focusing on comedy
* Sling TV
* Video on demand