Hulu

After years of selling old seasons of hit shows exclusively to Netflix, some of the world’s biggest media companies are adjusting their strategy, signing deals with other streaming video services or making more episodes available on demand via traditional pay-TV distributors.

As expected, Fusion CEO Isaac Lee outlined, in a Thursday memo to staff, a series of changes to the television network’s “existing in-house, studio-based shows” that includes the discontinuation of its latenight series Come Here and Say That, hosted by Alicia Menendez. Another series, Soccer Gods, will become a “digital-first brand.”

The CW is heading into its 10th anniversary next year. But before the network can start planning a fall 2016 celebration, it has to close three deals key to the network’s livelihood for the next decade. Coming up later this year is the CW’s pact with Netflix, followed next year by the agreements with Tribune and Hulu.

Hulu has been working steadily over the past year to close the gap with Netflix, and now the company has unveiled a true game changer in its battle with other streaming services: a commercial-free option for subscribers. Beginning today, subscribers can upgrade to an ad-free plan for $11.99 per month, $4 more than the current fee for what the company calls “limited commercials.” But at the same time, the company stressed that it remains committed to advertising.

Hulu knows it can be a worthy TV companion to consumers, but now it’s angling to make for a better movie date too.

Hulu will expand its library in October as part of a new deal with cable network Epix. For Epix, the deal is an opportunity to attract more consumers who are wary of paying more than $100 for a package of cable channels.

Hulu on Tuesday announced it will begin selling some of its premium digital video inventory across all of its platforms — including desktop, mobile and connected TVs — via programmatic this fall. It marks the first time Hulu’s programmatic inventory will be available for programmatic buying.

Hulu doesn’t want its subscribers to find themselves in a TV coma, so it’s opting to release its upcoming original series in weekly episodes. “With all of our new originals, we will release episodes weekly,” Craig Erwich, head of content at Hulu says. “We want to give viewers the opportunity to discover their favorite shows every week. Like you, we value the shared experience and the joy of the watercooler that is television.”

The move to Hulu is bringing a new level of creative freedom to The Mindy Project that cast and crew members are clearly relishing. The flexibility of moving from Fox to the commercial-free environment of Hulu allows them longer running times to let the show breathe and showcase its ensemble cast, creator/exec producer Mindy Kaling said Sunday at the Television Critics Association press tour.

Hulu is looking into offering an ad-free version of its service to strengthen its position against Netflix. The new option could launch as early as fall and cost from $12 to $14 a month.

Vintage shows and films, from ’60s sitcoms to British TV favorites to Charlie Chaplin movies, are finding a new audience on sites such as Netflix and Hulu.

The online video site Hulu, seen by some of its users as a way to bypass cable, is actually joining forces with cable companies. Starting this summer, customers of at least seven (mostly small) cable companies will be able to sign up for Hulu right through the set-top box. The companies — most notably Cablevision, which serves part of the New York metropolitan area — will share in the resulting subscriber revenues.

There has been a string of cable company partnerships with Hulu and Netflix announced over the past year, primarily with smaller providers. The benefit of these deals for consumers is that they make it easier to watch online video in the living room, on your TV. Services like Hulu get a marketing boost and a way to add new subscribers.

Hulu will launch the entire run of classic ’90s sitcom Seinfeld — spanning 180 episodes over nine seasons in all — on June 24 under its recently announced exclusive pact with Sony Pictures Television.

Hulu’s announcement Friday signals a resurrection for the comedy, which had just been canceled by Fox, where it aired for three seasons. Hulu subscribers will be able to stream past and future episodes of the series exclusively on Hulu.

Starting later this year, customers will be able to access Hulu shows through an AT&T app on their mobile phones, as well as through an AT&T website for Internet viewing, the companies said. The two are also exploring the possibility of bringing a Hulu app to TVs.

The Mindy Project will return for a fourth season — and possibly more — on Hulu. Sources say that Fox has passed on bringing back the critically acclaimed but low-rated series for a fourth season, with studio Universal Television now in talks with Hulu for a multiple-season renewal for the Mindy Kaling romantic comedy. Hulu and Universal Television declined comment, but sources say that the renewal would likely be for two seasons.

In another sign that Hulu is stepping up its game, the digital video giant has landed the SVOD rights to Seinfeld, cutting a deal with Sony Pictures TV for all 180 episodes of the enduring NBC comedy. The deal is said to be valued at just under $1 million an episode, which translates to a nearly $180 million windfall to be split by distributor Sony TV, Time Warner’s Castle Rock and Seinfeld profit participants, including star/co-creator Jerry Seinfeld and co-creator Larry David. The pact is expected to be announced at Hulu’s upfront presentation today.

Hulu, under a new deal with Turner Broadcasting, will become the exclusive subscription video on-demand home to programming from Adult Swim and Cartoon Network, as well as select series from TNT and TBS. The deal, announced Thursday, marks the first licensing agreement between Turner Broadcasting and Hulu.

After years of battling traditional players in the television business, the big three streaming services must defend against a variety of new offerings.

Under a deal with Twentieth Century Fox TV Distribution, Hulu Plus is offering the entire first season of the popular Fox drama and will have exclusive SVOD rights to future episodes.

Hulu has picked up rerun rights to 14 seasons — and counting — of CBS’s veteran procedural drama CSI. The deal marks the first SVOD licensing pact for the series that ranked as primetime’s most-watched drama during the first seven years of its run. Episodes from 14 seasons will be available on Hulu Plus as an SVOD exclusive starting in early April.

The transition to viewable ads as the online ad currency of choice doesn’t have to hurt. Just ask Hulu. While many Web publishers are reporting that advertisers’ growing insistence on buying only viewable ads has hurt their bottom line, Hulu says that adapting to viewability has led to more business.

Hulu sealed a deal for exclusive subscription video-on-demand rights to several current and future FX and FXX primetime shows, including Guillermo del Toro’s thriller The Strain, as the company keeps bulking up its lineup to challenge Netflix.

The seven remaining unaired episodes of the ABC sitcom that was yanked earlier this month are said to be headed to Hulu.

HuffPost Live content launched early this morning on Hulu. The digital video arm of The Huffington Post now has its own page on Hulu, with one-hour long episodes of HuffPost Live added daily. The episodes will be a collection of segments from the most recent week’s programming, ranging from politics to business to entertainment.

Cash from Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime will still be dwarfed by the expected $18.4 billion projected next year for off-network domestic syndication spending from cable, but the gap between digital and TV dollars may close in the future given cable channels likely aren’t going to grow as dramatically 5-10 years from now.