Hulu is an American entertainment company providing OTT services owned by Hulu LLC, a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company (via Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International (30%), 21st Century Fox (30%), Comcast (via NBCUniversal) (30%), and on August 10, 2016, Time Warner (via Turner Broadcasting System) (10%). Through an acquisition announced in December 2017, Disney will acquire Fox's partial ownership, giving it a majority stake if the deal is closed.
It is primarily oriented towards instant streaming television series, carrying current and past episodes from many series of television networks of their respective owners and other content partners. Some upstream competitors include Netflix and Amazon. Previously divided into free and paid tiers, with limited free services in the amount of content accessible to users and accessible via PC only, and paid services with larger content libraries and accessed through upstream applications for various mobile and connected devices. The subscription service, in turn, is divided into ad-supported levels and is largely ad-free. In 2016, Hulu spits out its free content into a joint venture with Yahoo! called Yahoo! View and launch a live streaming television service on May 3, 2017.
Hulu is currently offered only to users in Japan and the United States and its overseas territories.
Video Hulu
Name
The name Hulu comes from two Mandarin Mandarin words, hÃÆ'ºlÃÆ'º (??/??), "calabash, bottle flask", and hÃÆ'¹lÃÆ'¹ (??/??), " interactive recording ". Company blog explains:
In Mandarin, Hulu has two interesting meanings, each of which is highly relevant to our mission. Our main meaning is interested because it is used in an ancient Chinese proverb that describes Hulu as the holder of valuables. Literally translated into "pumpkin", and in ancient times, Hulu was perforated and used to store valuables. Its secondary meaning is "interactive recording". We see both definitions as appropriate and highly relevant to Upstream missions.
Maps Hulu
Business history
The main executives who played a role in the upstream establishment included Bruce Campbell, Peter Chernin, JB Perrette, Michael Lang, Beth Comstock, and Jason Kilar. This venture was announced in March 2006 with AOL, NBC Universal, now Comcast, Facebook, MSN, Myspace, and Yahoo! planned as an "initial distribution partner". Kilar was appointed CEO in June 2006.
The name Hulu was chosen at the end of August 2007, when the website is live, with announcements only and no content. It invites users to leave their email address for the upcoming beta test. In October, Hulu initiates a private beta test with invites, and then allows users to invite friends. Hulu was launched for public access in the United States on March 12, 2008. The first product launched was the HULU Syndication network, designed and developed by the NBC Universal team from New York, on October 29, 2007, followed by Hulu site destination.
Hulu started an advertising campaign during the NBC Super Bowl XLIII broadcast with an early ad starring Alec Baldwin entitled "Alec in Huluwood". An advertisement aimed at revealing the "shocking secrets behind Hulu", describes the site as "an evil plan to destroy the world" by suggesting that Baldwin is an alien in disguise. Advertisements since airing featured Eliza Dushku, Seth MacFarlane, Denis Leary, and Will Arnett.
In July 2007, Providence Equity Partners, owner of Newport Television, became one of the earliest "outsiders" by buying a 10 percent stake in the company for a $ 100 million equity investment before it was known as "Hulu". With his investment comes a seat on the board of directors, where Providence is said to act as an "independent vote on the board". In October 2012, Providence sold 10 percent of its shares to "upstream media owners" and stopped participating in the council.
In early 2010, Hulu's chief executive Jason Kilar said services had generated profits in two quarters and that the company could earn $ 100 million in revenue in the summer of 2010, more than its revenue for all 2009. ComScore said the monthly video stream reached 903 million in January 2010, more than three times the number for the previous year, and second only to YouTube.
On August 16, 2010, a report revealed that Hulu is planning an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that can appraise companies with more than $ 2 billion.
On June 21, 2011, The Wall Street Journal reported that "unsolicited bids" caused Hulu to start "weighing whether to sell itself." However, on October 13, 2011, Hulu and its owners announced that they would not sell the company, because no bidder offered a satisfactory amount to the owner.
It was reported that in 2011, Hulu earned $ 420 million. That figure is less than $ 80 million of predicted revenue. The vacant CEO post is officially filled by Fox Networks former president Mike Hopkins on October 17, 2013.
In December 2017, Disney announced that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, which includes 30% of its shares in Hulu. The deal will result in Disney having a controlling interest in Hulu.
Partners
After starting the service, Hulu signed an agreement with several new content providers that make additional material available to consumers. On April 30, 2009, the Walt Disney Company announced that it would join the venture, purchasing a 27 percent stake in Hulu.
As of August 15, 2011, Fox content viewers and related networks are required to authenticate cable or satellite paying service wherever the Fox stream episode, including upstream, to be able to watch it the morning after the first run. Non-subscribers will see the episode delayed a week before they are seen.
On October 28, 2011, Hulu announced that it had signed a five-year deal with The CW, giving the site stream access to content the next day from five of the six major networks. On September 18, 2013, Hulu announced a multi-year deal with the BBC that will send 2,000 episodes of 144 different titles in the first 12 months.
In 2015, Hulu starts offering content from Showtime with an additional $ 8.99/month, which is cheaper than Showtime's own streaming service. On June 16, 2016, Hulu announced an agreement with Disney-ABC Television Group for exclusive SVOD rights for last season from seven Disney Channels, Disney Junior and Disney XD series, and more than 20 original Disney Channel movies.
On September 18, 2016, all content from CW was removed from Hulu, as CW's own website and app became an exclusive portal for streaming their shows during the season, with Netflix being the exclusive streaming provider for The CW showing the current post-season. Starting January 2017, a limited amount of content from the CBS library is available on demand, largely limited to events that no longer produce new episodes. On January 4, 2017, it was reported that an agreement was reached to bring CBS's live broadcast and multiple affiliate channels to Upstream's upcoming live streaming service as well as to make more events available on demand.
In April 2018, Hulu announced a partnership with Spotify that allows users to purchase both streaming services at a discounted price per month.
Products
Subscription service Hulu
At an industry conference held on October 21, 2009, News Corporation Vice Chairman Chase Carey stated that Hulu "needs to evolve in order to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business" and is likely to start filling up at least some content in 2010 Carey comments jibes with head News Other corporations, including Rupert Murdoch who have expressed a desire to fill the content with a number of online units.
The upstream monthly subscription service called Hulu Plus was launched in beta (preview) on June 29, 2010 and officially launched on November 17, 2010. Like the upstream Free version, content available with upstream subscriptions also contains advertisements. However, it offers an expanded content library including full season, daily access to current seasonal content and more episodes of events available through Hulu for free. Upstream subscriptions also provide a wider viewing option. Free access to Hulu is only available on PCs and laptops, while Hulu subscriptions allow viewers to access Hulu through all Upstream supported devices including set-top boxes, smart TVs, game consoles, mobile devices, and more. A little over a year after the launch of the Upstream subscription service, the number of paying subscribers reached 1.5 million. In May 2016, Hulu reported to have reached 12 million subscribers. By the end of 2017, Hulu has reportedly reached 17 million subscribers.
On April 29, 2015, Hulu announced to the press that they will remove the "Plus" brand name to reduce confusion between paid and free packages.
The Wall Street Journal reported in July 2015 that Hulu is exploring ad-free subscription options for about $ 12 to $ 14 per month. This is confirmed as forward on September 2, 2015, with an "No Ads" plan priced at $ 11.99, $ 4 over $ 7.99 per month for "Commercial Limited" subscriptions, though some network series highlights (less than 10 ) will retain the pre-roll and post-roll advertising pod.
On August 8, 2016, Hulu announced that it will end the availability of free streaming services through its own platform, making it exclusively oriented on subscription services. In turn, the company announced a partnership with Yahoo! to move this free content, which mainly consists of the latest episodes ABC, Fox, and NBC series, to a new website known as Yahoo! Look.
Hulu with Live TV
In May 2016, Hulu announced that it plans to start offering over-the-top IPTV services with "live broadcast of broadcast and cable brands" sometime in 2017. By the end of 2016, co-owners 21st Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company agreed to supply their channel to a streaming service, joining Time Warner, who had previously reached an agreement with Hulu.
This service, marketed simply as "Hulu with Live TV," which paired direct TV deals with Hulu's existing television and movie library library, was launched in beta on May 3, 2017. Service $ 39.99 per month - which provides support for Xbox One, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS and Android devices - offers live streaming of over 50 broadcasts and cable channels, including feeds from five major broadcast networks - ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and The CW - as well as cable channels which is owned by parents with Hulu NBCUniversal, 21st Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company, along with CBS Corporation, Turner Broadcasting System, Interactive Scripps Network and AE Networks (covering networks such as CNN, Food Network, Disney Channel, A & amp; E , MSNBC and ESPN), with Showtime OTT service available as an add-on at an additional cost. Currently, live content from major broadcast networks is limited to New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia owned and operated stations and affiliates; Upstream representatives stated that they intend to negotiate a train agreement with independently-owned broadcasting groups to gain distribution rights to local stations from additional markets. Features include the ability to create six user account profiles per subscription (with program recommendations personalized based on user favorite programs and simultaneous streams depending on the package), personalized sports recommendations and DVR clouds with between 50 and 200 hours of storage depending on the level of service ( Lower level DVR does not have skipping ad functionality).
Upstream with Direct TV reaches 800 thousand subscribers in the first year in May 2018.
Views Count
The number of audiences for this site is tracked by measurement companies such as ComScore, Nielsen ratings, and Quantcast. In partnership with comScore, Hulu is the first digital company to receive multi-platform measurements on an individual level that includes co-viewing for living room devices. When factoring this, the Upstream range between A18-49 increased 50 percent.
However, the reliability of these metrics has been questioned, in part because of very different estimates. For example, between May and June 2010, ComScore updated its assessment methodology and forecast for Upstream down from 43.5 million unique viewers to 24 million in one month. In the digital comScore trend report in 2010, the Digital Year Report in the comScore Review found that Hulu watched twice as many viewers watched on the websites of the five major TV networks combined.
Hulu in May 2018 announced it has surpassed 20 million customers in the United States. The count, which puts SVOD jointly owned by Disney, Fox, Comcast and Time Warner about 36 million subs behind Netflix, was revealed at a media presentation at the new Upper Theater named at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hulu said it has increased total involvement by more than 60%, with 78% of viewing going on in the living room on connected TV.
Programming
Content partner
Hulu distributes the video on its own website and syncs its hosting to other sites, and allows users to embed the Upstream clip on their website. In addition to NBC, ABC, and Fox movies and programs, Hulu brings events from networks like A & amp; E, Ten Big Networks, Bravo, E !, Fox Sports 2, FX, PBS, NFL Network, Oxygen, RT America, Fox Sports 1, Esquire Network, SundanceTV, Syfy, USA Network, NBCSN and online comedy sources like Onion News Network. Upstream maintains between thirty and fifty percent of the advertising revenue generated by the event it distributes.
In November 2009, Hulu also began building partnerships with record labels to host music videos and concert performances on the site, including EMI in November 2009, and Warner Music Group in December 2009.
In early March 2010, Viacom announced that it attracted two of the most popular websites, The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, from Hulu. The program has been airing in Hulu since the end of 2008. A spokeswoman for Viacom noted that "in today's economic model, there is not much in it for us to continue at this time.If they get to the point where the monetization model is better, then we can return. "In February 2011, both events were made available for streaming in Hulu again. The The Daily Show was re-deleted from Hulu in March 2017 to encourage viewers to watch the program on Viacom and Comedy Central apps.
Hulu will be the exclusive streaming home for R-rated movies from Disney's Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures labels, as the upcoming streaming service from Disney will not feature R-rated movies.
Hulu in May 2018 announced its first licensing agreement with DreamWorks Animation, becoming the exclusive streaming home for future DWA movie movies, as well as library films. DWA has been streamed exclusively through Netflix since 2013.
Original content
From January 17, 2011 to April 24, 2014, Hulu streamed its own in-house web series The Morning After , a light pop culture news event. It is produced by Hulu along with Jace Hall HDFilms and stars Brian Kimmet and Ginger Gonzaga. Producing an event is a first for the company, which in the past has become a major content distributor.
On January 16, 2012, Hulu announced it would air its original script-based program, entitled Battleground , which aired in February 2012. The program is aired on Hulu free web service rather than on subscription-based Hulu Plus. Battlefield is described as a documentary-style political drama.
Later that same month, Hulu announced it was going to air The Fashion Fund, a six-part reality series, and the winner of the show will receive $ 300,000 to start their career.
To continue with the original programming movement, Hulu announced that there will be a total of seven original programs planned for broadcast on its services: Battlefield , Day in the Life , and Finite Speed ​​ has been mentioned before; and on April 19, Hulu added four more shows to his list: Do not Get Out of Your Daydream , Stream , The Awesomes , and We Got Next . Some of these programs start airing in 2012, while others are airing over the next few years.
On May 21, 2012, Hulu announced it would bring Kevin Smith to the ranks of the original program. Smith hosted a film discussion event titled Spoilers , which begins airing in mid-2012.
In March 2016, Lionsgate Premiere and Hulu jointly acquired distribution rights for the film, Joshy , which was later released on August 12, 2016.
On May 4, 2016, Hulu acquired The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, as the first documentary acquisition, as part of a planned Upper Documentary Film collection. The film premiered theaters on September 15, before debuting on streaming services on September 17th.
South Park
On July 12, 2014, it was announced that Hulu had signed a three-year contract to purchase exclusive online streaming rights to the South Park library. Through the deal, the South Park Studios web site became supported by Hulu videos and featured ads. Along with this, the domain name changed from "southparkstudios.com" to "southpark.cc.com". Previously, the show was already available on the Netflix television website. The launch of the new site causes some technical issues, which are solved allowing fans to watch episodes and uncensored clips. For audiences outside the US, episodes and clips are still flowing through the "classic" South Park player and nothing has changed apart from the design of the new site. A number of countries also have local versions of their South Park site, with long experience.
It has been announced that starting in September 2014, after the premiere of the 18th season, only 30 selected episodes will be shown for free viewing on time on the website, with new episodes available for a full month starting the day after their original broadcast. The entire series (with the exception of "Super Best Friends", "200", and "201") are available for viewing on upstream subscription services.
AT & amp; T
On May 14, 2015, AT & amp; T makes a deal with Hulu that will give its subscribers access to streaming services at both regular and premium levels. On October 22, 2016, AT & T announced an agreement to buy Time Warner, which owns 10% of Hulu, for $ 108.7 billion. In November 2017, the US Justice Department said it was moving to demand to block the merger of AT & amp; T-Time Warner.
Neon Alley
In early April 2014, Neon Alley, an 24/7 anime-oriented streaming service owned by Viz Media that began on October 2, 2012, flows into the US and Canadian markets (similar to ÃÆ' â € sir Media Group LLC and Valkyrie Media Network Anime Partners LLC , The Chernin Group and TV Tokyo's Crunchyroll and Aniplex from America's Aniplex Channel), suspended its web network format and relaunched as a Free Video on Demand (FVOD) video streaming service to the US market via its Internet-connected website or Internet through Hulu. As a result, with Hulu unable to stream into the Canadian market, Neon Alley stopped streaming into that market and limited its services to the US market only. This leaves the Anime Network, Crunchyroll, Daisuki and Aniplex Channels as the only anime-focused streaming service that flows into the Canadian market at the same time as the US market, though all four continue to this day. On July 21, 2016, Tubi TV announced that it has started streaming several Viz titles in Canada.
Hulu is known for streaming anime titles from many distributors, including Funimation, TMS Entertainment, and Bandai Visual, in addition to Viz Media.
Network
- A E Networks: A & amp; E, FYI, History, Lifetime, Military History, Viceland
- AMC Networks: AMC, SundanceTV, WE tv, BBC America
- ANO TV-Novosti: RT America
- CBS content in Japan and the United States: CBS, CBS Sports Network
- Invention Inc: Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, Discovery en Espaà ± a, Discovery Digital Networks, USA Objectives, Investigation of Invention, TLC, Family of Discovery
- 21st Century Fox: Fox, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FX, FX Movie Channel, FXX, National Geographic Channel, Big Ten Network, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 (all sales are waiting for Disney with some exceptions)
- NBCUniversal: CNBC, MSNBC, NBC, NBCSN, Oxygen, Syfy, USA Network, Bravo, E !, Universal Children
- HBO (for $ 14.99/extra mo)
- Cinemax (for $ 9.99/extra mo)
- Showtime (for an additional $ 8.99/mo)
- Time Warner: Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, The CW, TNT, TBS
- Viacom Media Networks: BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nicktoons, TV Land, VH1, Paramount Network, CMT, TV Logo
- Disney: ABC, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Freeform, all channels in the proposed 21st Century Fox acquisition
- Ion Television
- PBS
- Starz Inc: Starz
- Univision: Fusion
- Azteca International Corporation: Azteca
Producer and distributor
International platform
- DramaFever (Asian and Latin program)
- Viki (Asian program)
Awards
The Upstream Original Series, The Handmaid's Tale , won two awards at the 33rd Annual Television Critics Award for This Year's Program and Extraordinary Achievement in Drama. At the 69th Emmy Awards Awards, Hulu earned a total of 8 awards for The Handmaid's Tale and became the first streaming service to win an Exciting Drama Series. The Handmaid's Tale also received an Emmy for Position Directing, Extraordinary Writing, Extraordinary Cinematography, and Exceptional Production Design. Elisabeth Moss won the Emmy for the Top Achieving Actress, and Ann Dowd received the award for an Extraordinary 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 Documentary Award of Choice Critics 2016, the first Hulu documentary film released, The Beatles: Eight Days of a Week - Touring Years won the award for Best Music Documentary. The documentary also received a Grammy Award for Best Music Films at the Grammy Awards 2017 and Best Documentary on 16th Annual Film for Adult Awards. At Creative Arts Emmy, this documentary won two Emmys, including Exceptional Sound Editing and Exceptional Sound Mixing.
At the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards, Hulu received her first Emmy Award nomination for the Original series, 11.22.63 and for Triumph's Election Special 2016 . In 2016, Hulu received her first Golden Globe nomination for the Original series, Relax , for the TV series, Comedy.
Availability
As of June 2015, access to Hulu is not available internationally outside the United States and Japan.
International expansion
In July 2010, the Financial Times revealed that Hulu has been working on plans for Hulu Plus international launch for several months, and has identified the UK and Japan as a marketplace where websites and free subscription models can work well. Chief executive Hulu Jason Kilar expressed confidence that the US model could be replicated elsewhere, saying "We will not be satisfied until this is a global service." The first expansion Upstream to the international market took place with the launch of services in Japan on September 1, 2011.
Nippon TV receives upstream Japanese service
On February 27, 2014, Nippon Television Network Corporation (Nippon TV) acquired the Upper Japanese business. Transactions, subject to certain regulatory requirements, mark the entry of Nippon TVs into the SVOD business (Subscribed Videos On Demand). Through the acquisition, Hulu services continue to offer premium content of Japanese consumers, including Hollywood and Japanese movies and dramas and popular television programs. In addition, Nippon TV's popular show and original exclusive content launched on the upstream service in Japan, expanded its content offerings. Japanese users have access to popular television shows such as CSI franchise, Gray Anatomy , Prison Break and Ugly Betty , and as well as movies like < i> Armageddon , Men in Black , and Pirates of the Caribbean .
Absent in Canadian market
Upstream can not be launched in Canada because of the relatively small size of the Canadian online advertising market and because the Canadian television network already has exclusive online streaming rights in Canada for some of the titles offered in Hulu, including many major American television network programs. Upper absence in the Canadian market raised fears of the sitcom fans of The Mindy Project when it was canceled by Fox in the spring of 2015 and then picked up by Hulu; Canadian broadcaster event, City, later announced it will continue airing the series in Canada. Currently, Canadian consumers have access to several other streaming systems, including Canadian versions of Netflix, Amazon Video, CraveTV and Crackle, but with CraveTV streaming multiple programs from an inaccessible-to-Canada-like platform.
See also
- Amazon Video
- CBS Full Access
- Digital rights management
- Netflix
- Seeso, a similar service launched by NBC Universal in 2016 that focuses on comedy
- Sling TV
- On-demand video
Note
References
External links
- Hulu (US site) - official site
- Hulu (Japanese site) - official site (in Japanese)
- Tancerpecial, Bill (February 10, 2009). "With Hulu, the Old Spectacle Leads the Way". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved July 13 2017 . (Subscription required ( help )) .
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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