Hulu
Hulu is an American subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It is one of the most-subscribed video on demand streaming media services, with 64.1 million paid memberships. Its headquarters are located in Los Angeles, California, with offices in Santa Monica, California, New York City, and Seattle, Washington. Hulu was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBC Universal; Providence Equity, Disney, and Time Warner later made investments in the service.
Hulu originally served as an aggregator, streaming recent episodes of programs from the companies' television networks. In 2010, Hulu launched a subscription service, initially branded as "Hulu Plus," which featured full seasons of programs from the companies and other partners, and access to new episodes immediately after their airing. In 2016, Hulu syndicated its free library to Yahoo in order to focus exclusively on Hulu Plus. In 2017, the company launched "Hulu + Live TV"—a superset of Hulu Plus also offering access to broadcast and cable television channels.
In 2019, Disney acquired a majority stake in Hulu as part of its acquisition of News Corporation successor 21st Century Fox, and subsequently acquired the remaining stakes held by AT&T and Comcast in 2019 and 2023, respectively, giving it full ownership. Following the acquisition, Disney began to establish synergies between Hulu and its sister service Disney+, including integrating a Hulu content hub into the Disney+ library for users subscribed to both services. In 2025, Disney announced plans to eventually discontinue Hulu's existing apps in favor of a shared platform with Disney+, although they will remain separate subscriptions.
Aside from a Japanese version of the service launched in 2011, Hulu did not pursue a wider international expansion until 2025, when Disney announced that Hulu would replace its Star brand for general entertainment content on Disney+ outside of the United States.
In January 2025, Disney announced its intent to acquire a 70% majority stake in competing streaming television service FuboTV. The sale is expected to be completed by late-2025 or early-2026; the merged business will consist of the FuboTV and the Hulu + Live TV businesses, and will remain led by Fubo CEO David Gandler. The Hulu streaming service itself will remain solely owned by Disney.
Etymology
The name Hulu comes from two Mandarin Chinese phrases, s= and s=wikt:互动.Jason Kilar, who served as CEO of Hulu, said the name comes from a Chinese proverb:
History
Early years (2007–2010)
Individuals who were instrumental in the founding of Hulu include Bruce Campbell, Peter Chernin, JB Perrette, Mike Lang, Beth Comstock, George Kliavkoff, Darren Feher, and Jason Kilar. Rus Yusupov, the lead designer on Hulu's original design team, played a key role in shaping the platform's initial interface and user experience. Hulu was announced in March 2007 with AOL, NBC Universal, MSN, Myspace, and Yahoo! planned as "initial distribution partners." Jason Kilar was named Hulu CEO in late 2007. NBC shut down its earlier online video effort NBBC in order to focus on Hulu.The name Hulu was chosen in late August 2007, when the website went live with an announcement only and no content. It invited users to leave their email addresses for the upcoming beta test. In October 2007, Hulu began the private beta testing by invitation, and later allowed users to invite friends. Hulu launched for public access in the United States on March 12, 2008.
Hulu began an advertising campaign during NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII with an initial ad starring Alec Baldwin titled "Alec in Huluwood." Advertisements have since aired featuring Eliza Dushku, Seth MacFarlane, Denis Leary, and Will Arnett.
In July 2007, Providence Equity, the owner of Newport Television, became one of the earliest "outside" investors by purchasing a 10% stake in the company for US$100 million equity investment, before the company was known as "Hulu." With its investment came a seat on the board of directors, where Providence was said to act as an "independent voice on the board." In April 2009, the Walt Disney Company joined the Hulu consortium as a stakeholder, with plans to offer content from ABC, ESPN and Disney Channel.
Multiple joint ventures (2010–2019)
Early in 2010, Hulu chief executive Jason Kilar said the service had made a profit in two quarters and that the company could top $100 million in revenue by summer 2010, more than its income for all of 2009. ComScore says monthly video streams reached 903 million in January 2010, over three times the figure for a year earlier, and second only to YouTube. On August 16, 2010, a report revealed that Hulu was planning an initial public offering which could value the company at more than $2 billion.In June 2011, an "unsolicited offer" caused Hulu to begin "weighing whether to sell itself". However, Hulu and its owners refused to sell the company, as none of the bidders offered an amount that was satisfactory to its owners. In September of that year, the service launched in Japan; marking Hulu's first and only international expansion.
Hulu generated $420 million in revenue in 2011, $80 million short of the company's target. The vacant CEO post was officially filled by former Fox Networks President Mike Hopkins on October 17, 2013.
In October 2012, Providence sold its 10% stake to "Hulu's media owners" and ceased participation in the board. On February 27, 2014, Nippon Television Network Corporation acquired Hulu's Japanese business. The service would retain the "Hulu" brand and technology in Japan under a subsidiary of Nippon as part of a separate agreement.
On August 3, 2016, Time Warner acquired a 10% stake of Hulu. Hopkins exited and was named Sony Pictures TV Chairman. Fox Networks Group COO Randy Freer was named CEO on October 24, 2017.
Disney majority ownership (2019–2023)
On March 20, 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, giving it a 60% majority stake in Hulu. On April 15, 2019, AT&T sold its 10% stake in Hulu back to the company for $1.43 billion, leaving Disney with 67% and Comcast with 33%. Comcast, the only other shareholder, announced on May 14, 2019, that it had agreed to cede its control to Disney, and reached an agreement for Disney to purchase its 33% stake in Hulu as early as 2024.On May 14, 2019, Comcast relinquished its control in Hulu to Disney effective immediately. As a result, the streaming service became a division of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International with Comcast effectively becoming a silent partner. Under the agreement, Comcast's 33% stake could be sold to Disney at fair market value as early as 2024. The fair market value would be determined at that time, but Disney guaranteed a minimum valuation of the entire company at $27.5 billion. Randy Freer would report to Disney executive Kevin Mayer.
Disney stated that its control of Hulu was the third major component of its direct-to-consumer strategy, complementing its sports streaming service ESPN+, and its then-forthcoming Disney+. Hulu would be oriented towards "general" entertainment and content targeting mature audiences. NBCUniversal would continue to license its content to the service through at least 2024, but had the option to begin transitioning its exclusivity deals with Hulu to non-exclusive terms beginning in 2020, and to end other content deals beginning in 2022.
On July 31, 2019, Disney reorganized Hulu's reporting structure, placing Hulu's Scripted Originals team under Disney General Entertainment Content. Under the new structure, Hulu's SVP of Original Scripted Content would report directly to the chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment. As of November 2019, FX and Fox Searchlight were assigned to supply Hulu with content. In January 2020, Disney eliminated the role of Hulu CEO, with its top executives to report directly to DTCI and Walt Disney Television. On January 31, 2020, Freer resigned as CEO of Hulu and the position was eliminated; Hulu's top executives now report directly to DTCI and Walt Disney Television.
In June 2021, Comcast accused Disney of undermining Hulu's growth and value by not engaging in international expansion of the service, having instead added the Star brand as an extension of Disney+ in selected markets.
On September 7, 2021, Hulu announced that the prices of its main video on-demand and ad-free plans would increase by $1 each to $6.99 and $12.99 per-month beginning October 8. In October 2021, Hulu president Kelly Campbell resigned, and was subsequently appointed the president of NBCUniversal's competing service Peacock.
On November 22, 2021, Disney and WarnerMedia reached a deal to let select 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures films stream on Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max in 2022. In March 2022, NBCUniversal decided that it would pull content from Hulu and move it to Peacock, beginning in September. In January 2022, Joe Earley became president of Hulu.
In September 2022, Chapek indicated that Disney was considering merging Hulu into Disney+ because the model had been successful outside the United States without any content friction. To accelerate the plan, he said that Disney would love to buy out Comcast's 33.3% stake in Hulu earlier than their previously agreed 2024 timeline. However, Comcast had not offered reasonable terms for an early buyout and had instead expressed interest in buying Hulu themselves if it were for sale.
On May 18, 2023, it was announced that Disney+ and Hulu would remove nearly 60 original films and series on May 26 in order to "cut costs." The news sparked some backlash, mostly towards the initial decision to remove Howard, the documentary on the life of lyricist Howard Ashman, on the eve of Pride Month and the release of the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. However, it was confirmed the next day that film will remain available on the service.
On July 10, 2023, Hulu launched an adult animation and anime hub known as Animayhem, featuring several different 20th Television Animation programs, including American Dad, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, and King of the Hill, among various others. Additionally, new seasons of Futurama and King of the Hill were commissioned for the service, while the company also showcased an "immersive" experience at San Diego Comic-Con to promote the occasion, titled Hulu Animayhem: Into the Second Dimension. The hub was also launched on Disney+ internationally the following year.