Hulu

Emmy-winning comedy series Schitt’s Creek will cycle off Netflix in the U.S. later this year, to become available exclusively on Disney’s Hulu. Hulu announced that it will be the dedicated subscription video on-demand home Schitt’s Creek in the U.S. beginning Oct. 3. The fan-favorite show, which originally aired in the U.S. on Paramount’s Pop TV, ended its six-season run in 2020.

The Ohio Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case that could change how streaming platforms operate. The city of Maple Heights, outside Cleveland, sued Netflix and Hulu in federal court in 2020. It argues that the streaming platforms should pay local governments franchise fees similar to what cable television providers have to pay. The federal court sent two questions to the Ohio Supreme Court to decide: Are Netflix and Hulu considered “video service providers?” Does Maple Heights have the right to challenge the companies over the issue? No state’s supreme court has ruled on those issues.

A small, Cleveland suburb, Maple Heights, has filed a lawsuit against Netflix and Hulu, trying to force the streaming companies to pay a franchise fee typically applied to cable providers. The lawsuit is part of a growing national trend of cities in at least 13 states, often pinched by shrinking budgets, targeting the nascent streaming industry for new tax revenues. The city’s suit is filed under a state law written and passed in 2007 — when Netflix was mostly mailing its customers DVDs and Hulu had yet to launch.

A programming agreement that gives the Walt Disney Co.’s streaming service Hulu access to popular programming from Comcast’s NBCUniversal has been terminated, according to a source familiar with the situation. Insead of appearing on Hulu the day after they air on NBC, shows like This is Us, The Voice and Saturday Night Live will be available on Peacock, the  Comcast streaming platform that competes with Hulu.

Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal is finalizing a plan that would drastically change its partnership with Hulu, shifting high-profile programming to its own Peacock streaming platform, according to people familiar with the matter. Starting this fall, new episodes of shows like The Voice, Saturday Night Live and American Auto would no longer be available on Hulu soon after they air as a result of that plan, they said.

Nearly 10 years after it signed off, Futurama has been revived for a 20-episode run on Hulu, the third platform for the animated comedy from creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. The series that aired its first five seasons on Fox before being revived for three more at Comedy Central will return to production this month for a 2023 premiere. Original creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen will return alongside voice stars Billy West and Katey Sagal, among others.

Fox Entertainment and Hulu have struck a major deal that allows the streaming service to run all out-of-season episodes of key Fox unscripted and animated series. Hulu will have the right to stream all episodes of Fox’s unscripted series, including The Masked Singer, Lego Masters, I Can See Your Voice, Name That Tune, The Masked Dancer, Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back, MasterChef and MasterChef Junior. 

Single-camera comedy series Maggie, originally picked up by ABC for the 2021-22 season, now will stream exclusively on sibling Hulu in the U.S. as a Hulu Original. The decision, underscoring the blurring of the lines between linear and streaming at the major media companies, was made in order to get Maggie in front of audiences instead of keeping it on the bench because of a lack of available slots on the network.

Four of the biggest ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) platforms in the U.S. generated $3.5 billion in advertising revenue in the 12 months leading up to September 2021. That’s according to new data from Kantar, which said that Hulu accounted for most of the ad sales over the period with $2.1 billion, followed by Paramount+ at $822 million, Peacock with $279 million and Tubi with $250 million.

Some observers predicted the just completed carriage talks between Disney and Comcast might make a convenient container in which to resolve Hulu ownership. Why didn’t that happen?

In time for International Day of Persons with Disabilities, this Friday, Dec. 3, ABC Owned Television Stations has produced Our America: Accomplices – The Story of Ady Barkan, which is set to premiere the same day on Hulu.

Disney next year will spend nearly twice as much on content as Netflix did in 2021.

Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal is considering removing much of its content from Hulu and making it exclusive to its Peacock platform, according to people familiar with the matter, as the media giant determines how to best play its hand in the streaming wars. NBCUniversal, which owns one-third of Hulu, with Disney controlling the rest, has to make a decision soon. Under the terms of an agreement with Disney, NBCUniversal has a one-time window to exit from the content-licensing agreement between the two early next year. If it doesn’t exercise the option, the content would remain there until at least 2024.

After less than two years as Hulu’s president, Kelly Campbell has left the Disney-controlled streaming service. Campbell’s sudden departure was announced to staff by Rebecca Campbell, Disney’s chairman of international operations and direct-to-consumer, who said that Kelly was no longer with Hulu “effective immediately” but did not provide a specific reason.

The canceled CBS legal drama starring Simone Missick has officially been revived for a 20-episode third season. Additionally, HBO Max and Hulu will share streaming rights to the series. The show will debut on both platforms on Dec. 1. Showrunner Dee Harris-Lawrence will return.

Brand Keys said comfort dominates amid COVID-19 trial by fire.

As the widely watched Britney Spears conservator case plays out, another documentary about the legal battle and its fallout launches tonight. FX and Hulu will premiere “Controlling Britney Spears,” a follow-up film from the team behind the Emmy-nominated “Framing Britney Spears.”

The series racked up 1.39 billion minutes of viewing time among Netflix’s U.S. subscribers for the week, marking its seventh time surpassing a billion minutes and its sixth time as the overall top streaming title since it debuted on Netflix in July.

The National Hockey League and the Walt Disney Company will drop the puck on the first season of its seven-year multiplatform television deal by distributing more 100 exclusive, live NHL regular season games, nearly three-quarters of which will be offered through digital services ESPN Plus and Hulu.

Disney is raising prices on Hulu’s baseline video-on-demand streaming packages next month, as the Mouse House seeks to push customers toward the three-way Disney Bundle and Hulu’s live TV packages.

Streaming-TV monogamy still isn’t a thing, according to the latest survey by Leichtman Research Group. The Durham, N.H., firm released its Emerging Video Services 2021 survey Aug. 31, finding that 58% of Americans subscribe to more than one of the big three of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu.