NFL Media and Hulu announced a new multi-year carriage agreement to bring the NFL Network and NFL RedZone to Hulu’s live TV subscription streaming service Hulu + Live TV. The NFL Network and NFL RedZone will be available to Hulu + Live TV subscribers by Aug. 1, just in time for the 2021 NFL season. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Its app and marketing have new design elements that will debut in an ad campaign starting this week. It’s a call for people to step into the video service as the starting point in what’s become a chaotic and confusing digital media landscape.
Exclusives
Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told a troubled senator that the FCC does not have the authority to get involved in the carriage dispute between a broadcaster and streaming service, in this case Disney’s Hulu Plus Live TV streaming service and Sinclair, over access to the latter’s regional sports networks. That came in a letter responding to Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who asked the FCC to help facilitate a resolution of the dispute “promptly and impartially.”
As promised, Disney has begun selling a version of its Disney+ bundle that includes ESPN+ and ad-free Hulu. The bundle costs $18.99 per month, approximately $6 less than paying for each service individually. The company still sells a $12.99 per month bundle that include Hulu with ads. Presumably, the $18.99 per month price will last for only about two months before Disney+ price increases take effect in late March.
Modern Family has found not one but two streaming homes for its vast 11-season library. Disney-backed Hulu and NBCUniversal’s Peacock will share streaming rights for all 250 episodes, with the family comedy from creators Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd making its debut Feb. 3 on both platforms. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.
Hulu+ Live TV to launch the Nexstar cable network in January. The agreement adds more than 4 million new streaming subscribers to WGN America’s reach.
Hulu is cutting the price of its SVOD-only service by more than 60% as limited time Black Friday deal. The company said that new and eligible returning subscribers — those who haven’t been subscribers for more than three months — can get Hulu’s ad-supported plan, normally $5.99 per month, for $1.99 per month for one year. The deal is available beginning midnight on Thanksgiving through Nov. 30.
Days after Disney CEO Bob Chapek praised Hulu’s live TV offering during the company’s quarterly earnings call, the company notified customers of a significant price increase. As of Dec. 18, the package including more than five dozen networks will cost $64.99 a month for both current and new subscribers, up 18% from the previous rate of $54.99.
Hulu says its live TV service will no longer carry the Fox regional sports networks now owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, effective Friday. In a post on its website, Hulu said it will “no longer have the rights” to distribute the channels. The move comes after the end of the baseball season and follows the networks being dropped Oct. 1 by YouTube TV, another virtual MVPD aimed at sports fans.
Thousands of Hulu subscribers last night posted online complaints that they could not log in, making it impossible to view their live and Video on Demand services. The technical issue on Tuesday night seem to begin around 10 p.m. ET. It’s unclear how many people were affected, but Downdetector.com, which tracks online outages, says nearly 16,000 people were simultaneously posting complaints about Hulu at the height of the problem.
Four cities in Indiana are suing Netflix and other video companies, claiming that online video providers and satellite TV operators should have to pay the same franchise fees that cable companies pay for using local rights of way.
Following up on its effort that allowed small businesses to buy advertising times through a self-serve ad manager, Hulu has launched creative advertising services for small and medium-size businesses. The effort looks to either repurpose existing video for streaming TV or to provide services for businesses that want to start from “scratch.”
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A politically charged episode of “black-ish” from 2017 that was shelved by ABC has found a home on Hulu, a corporate sibling of the Disney-owned broadcast network. “I cannot wait for everyone to finally see the episode for themselves,” series creator Kenya Barris posted Monday on social media. Barris said he […]
Hulu is making its advertising platform more accessible to businesses with smaller marketing budgets. The streamer, which is courting more advertisers as it’s further integrated into parent company Disney, is opening up a closed beta test of a self-service ad manager to small and medium-size businesses, it said today. It’s the first self-service tool from Hulu and will give marketers the ability to start campaigns on the streamer with a minimum spend of $500.
Hulu, in its first upfront as part of The Walt Disney Co., emphasized new ways its advertisers could reach streaming viewers. Advertisers including direct-to-consumer marketers SmileDirectClub, The RealReal and SweetGreen are among the launch partners for what Hulu is calling Gateway Go, which using interactive second-screen technology to send viewers QR codes and push notifications, so that those viewers can immediately react to brand offers on their mobile devices.
Scandal, Shonda Rhimes’ primetime political drama series, is jumping from Netflix to Hulu later this month. All seven seasons of Scandal — 124 episodes in all — will begin streaming exclusively on Hulu as of May 20, when the show will no longer be on Netflix in the U.S. The series was created by Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice) and stars Kerry Washington as political fixer Olivia Pope.
Hulu’s head of ad sales Peter Naylor has left the streaming company to take a job with Snap, where he will head up U.S. ad sales. Naylor’s departure comes as Disney is folding Hulu more into its larger operations and comes two months after Randy Freer exited as CEO. In February, Hulu promoted Kelly Campbell to president to serve as his replacement under Disney direct-to-consumer chief Kevin Mayer.
According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, the employee in question immediately began self-isolation once they started experiencing symptoms. The individual is said to be recovering at home. Anyone else in the office who came into contact with the person has been informed, with those employees now required to also self-isolate and begin working from home immediately.
Local Media’s Digital Faithful Meet In Miami
OTT and revived TV membership models were among the highlights of a local digital advertising conference that just managed to sneak in under the coronavirus wire.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hilary Duff is asking Disney to find a TV home that’s more appropriate to the grown-up “Lizzie McGuire.” In an Instagram post, the actress who’s reprising the title character for Disney Plus, said the streaming service isn’t the best fit, suggesting Hulu instead. The original series, about a girl whose thoughts […]
Hulu has promoted Chief Marketing Officer Kelly Campbell to president. This comes a few weeks after Disney announced that Randy Freer would be stepping down as CEO.
Marquee Sports Network, the new channel being launched Feb 22 by the Chicago Cubs and Sinclair Broadcast Group, took a big step by making a carriage deal to be streamed as part of the Hulu+ Live TV lineup. It is Marquee’s first over-the-top deal with a virtual MVPD, which is important because it means Cubs fans can watch games if they cut the cord.
Further incorporating Hulu, the premium on-demand and live TV streaming service, into Walt Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer & International division has resulted in the departure of Randy Freer, Hulu’s CEO.
