Hulu

Hulu
Fourth variant of the Hulu logo in use since 2018
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
OTT video streaming platform
Headquarters,
U.S.
Area servedUnited States
OwnerThe Walt Disney Company
Key peopleJoe Earley (President)
ParentDisney Streaming
URLhulu.com
AdvertisingYes
RegistrationRequired
UsersIncrease 49.7 million (as of December 30, 2023[1]
LaunchedOctober 29, 2007 (2007-10-29)
Current statusActive

Hulu (/ˈhl/) is an American subscription streaming media owned by The Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007.

Hulu was initially established as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBCUniversal, Providence Equity, and later The Walt Disney Company, serving as an aggregation of recent episodes of television series from their respective television broadcasting. 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 un-delayed access to new episodes.[2] In 2017, the company launched Hulu with Live TV—an over-the-top live TV service featuring broadcast programming channels.

In 2011, Hulu launched its services in Japan, marking its first and only international expansion. However, in 2014, Hulu Japan was spun off and acquired by Nippon TV.[3]

A beta hub version of Hulu was launched on Disney+ in the United States on December 6, 2023,[4] with full release on March 27, 2024.[5] The hub shares similarities with the Star hub that was previously launched on Disney+ in February 2021 outside the U.S. as an alternative to Hulu.

  1. ^ "THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY REPORTS FIRST QUARTER EARNINGS FOR FISCAL 2024" (PDF). The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  2. ^ Water-cutter, Angela (September 10, 2020). "Streaming Services Are Abusing the + Sign and It Must End". Wired. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  3. ^ "Nippon TV Acquires Hulu Service in Japan". www.businesswire.com. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  4. ^ Weprin, Alex (December 6, 2023). "Disney+ Launches Hulu Hub in Bid to Boost In-House Bundle". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  5. ^ "The Disney Plus-Hulu merger is way more than a streaming bundle". The Verge. March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.