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.
Hulu had a total of 42.8 million subscribers, up from 41.6 million in the second quarter. Its Hulu Plus Live TV vMVPD lost 100,000 subscribers and finished the quarter with 3.7 million customers.
Her promotion follows that of Jordan Helman, who was the head of drama before being named head of all scripted content. That was after Beatrice Springborn moved over to run NBCUnviersal’s UCP.
In a virtual presentation today during the Cannes Lions brand confab, Nielsen shed a bit more light on streaming from its growing body of research on the U.S. market. Following up on its announcement last week of a new measurement tool called The Gauge, SVP of Product Strategy Brian Fuhrer explored the May viewing numbers during a 20-minute talk. Subscription video on demand services remain the dominant form of streaming, he said, with 52% of total streams. Ad-supported video on demand followed with 27% and MVPDs and virtual MVPDs (e.g., YouTube TV) account for 10% of all streaming.
Exclusives
Netflix is actually the beneficially for this latest big off-net comedy move following a $500 million-plus deal in 2019 to acquire the Show About Billions.
Disney is closing in on a massive $22 million-per-year deal that would keep the Country Music Association Awards on ABC while bringing in its streaming services to support the awards show as broadcast ratings decline. The new agreement carries a license fee of at least $22 million a year for a multiyear contract, according to two individuals familiar with the deal, which was possible because Disney could draw on funding from Hulu and Disney+ in addition to ABC. As part of the new deal, Hulu and Disney+ are expected to feature additional shoulder programming around the annual event, which is held every November.
Tensions between Disney and Comcast over their joint ownership of Hulu are heating up. The two companies are feuding over Disney’s decision last year to not launch Hulu overseas, a move that Comcast believes undermined its growth potential and valuation. The issue has inflamed arbitration proceedings now underway between the two companies over the value of Hulu, say people familiar with the situation. The dispute is a prelude to what could be a bigger fight in 2024, when Disney is scheduled to buy Comcast out of its minority stake in Hulu at a price that could be anywhere from $9 billion to $13 billion. Buying Comcast’s stake would give Disney full ownership of Hulu.
The former drama head will fill the void created by Beatrice Springborn, who left last year to run Universal Content Productions. Helman has been head of drama at Hulu since joining the streamer in 2015.
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.
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 […]
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.
