Hulu

Posted on December 1, 2014 by dpbaylis

by Daniel Bayliss

Hulu Logo. Courtesy of thenextweb.com [1]

Hulu Headquarters

12312 West Olympic Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90064 [2]

Phone: 1-(310) 571-4700 Website: www.hulu.com

Twitter: @hulu

Key Executives [3]

Mike Hopkins, CEO

Craig Erwich, Senior Vice President & Head of Content

Tian Lim, Chief Technology Officer

Elaine Paul, Chief Financial Officer

What is Hulu?

Created in 2007, Hulu is a premium, over-the-top service that distributes content to millions of users that stream its programming. The Hulu destination website hulu.com was created in 2008.

Users can stream TV shows like Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, and Glee. That list is much more expansive, as Hulu offers programming from NBC, FOX, ABC, etc. In addition, Hulu offers numerous movies, documentaries [4], clips, its own original content, and more.

In addition to the free Hulu service, there’s also a paid subscription service called Hulu Plus. For $7.99 per month, subscribers can watch from a library of streamed shows, movies, clips, etc. that is significantly larger than the selection offered by the free service. There are also a number of electronic devices, like XBox, tablets, and phones that have the ability to stream Hulu Plus.

Photo courtesy of app advice.com. This picture shows just several devices that you can use to access Hulu Plus.

Hulu’s original programming also brings their own advertising and sponsorship opportunities into the mix [5]. Hulu also works with websites like Facebook, Yahoo!, MSN, and others to provide web syndication abilities.

Financials

Due to Hulu being a privately held company [6], the only public monetary updates come from within the company.

The year 2012 was significant for Hulu financially. According to former CEO Jason Kilar, the company brought in approximately $695 million in revenue [7], which was a 65% increase from 2011’s revenue totals.

Photo courtesy of Hulu.com. This graph shows a consistent increase between the fourth quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2012, a factual example of Hulu Plus’ increasing popularity.

The revenue increase also brought about an increase in Hulu Plus subscriber totals, bumping the total up from 1.5 million subscribers in 2011 to 3 million subscribers in 2012. These totals are the result of Hulu investing upwards of $500 million in content in 2012, in addition to the running total of $1 billion that has been paid to the content owners since Hulu’s launch back in 2007 [8]. Hulu also served over 1,000 advertisers in 2012, which was 28% more than in 2011 [7].

Hulu experienced more financial success in 2013 [9]. Their revenue and subscription totals rose to $1 billion and 5 million paying subscribers, respectively [10]. And under the assumption that it holds onto its subscribers for a year, Hulu is set to make $479 million just in subscription revenues.

In July 2013, the three companies that own Hulu — Fox Entertainment Group, NBCUniversal and Disney — invested $750 million in Hulu for its future endeavors and investments. As of September 28, 2013, Hulu had collected a total of $380 million of that number [11]. This investment came on the heels of the three companies deciding against a sale of Hulu.

Within the Company

A huge part of Hulu’s success is due to all their advertising efforts, which includes branded content like the Ford–sponsored show Escape My Life and Subway-sponsored The 4 to 9ers. While branded content is an increasingly popular trend, one that Hulu has taken advantage of in the past [12], November’s departure of Bryan Thoensen, the head of branded content at Hulu, from the company has caused Hulu to change its efforts. Hulu’s new plan will revolve around sponsorships sold for the their self-produced content [13]. This is different from the past when Hulu would also bring along shows and combine them with brands from the start.

Photo courtesy of adage.com. This screenshot of Hulu’s NewFronts portion of their website shows some of its brand content work for 2014 [13].

Back in October it was reported that CEO Mike Hopkins was considering reducing the amount of advertisements that pop up on Hulu Plus [14]. No definitive answer has been issued as to whether or not this will happen. Some executives within the company encouraged the idea due to statistical data suggesting the company’s heavy ad usage. In a study conducted by Comscore in December 2013, Hulu showed users 82 ads per month, while YouTube monthly total for ads seen by users was about 32 [15].

Photo courtesy of app advice.com. This picture shows the Hulu app on an iPhone. There’s a “free” selection of videos as well as the possibility of upgrading to Hulu Plus, as seen in the upper-left hand corner.

Apple‘s decision back in 2011 to receive 30 percent of each Hulu Plus subscriber’s monthly bill was finally justified this year. In early October it was confirmed that Hulu’s most recent update made it compatible with iOS 8 and on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The Hulu in-app update also gives users the ability to subscribe to the Hulu Plus service as soon as they open the app [16]. which means that Apple takes over the billing relationship for those customers.

Hulu also confirmed in late October that it has renewed its distribution deal with Viacom. In the newest deal was the agreement to continue streaming shows like Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “Workaholics,” MTV scripted shows “Awkward” and “Happyland,” and numerous Nickelodeon shows due to the desire for a more expansive selection for kids [17].

More Content Updates

After they were cancelled by ABC, comedy shows Selfie and Manhattan Love Story have been picked up by Hulu [18]. Selfie’s creator Emily Kapnek tweeted the news out on November 20. Kapnek also said that the show’s six remaining un-aired episodes would also immediately be made available on Hulu.

Photo courtesy of guardianlv.com.

Hulu will also now stream “HuffPost Live Conversations” as agreed upon between Hulu and the Huffington Post’s digital video branch last month [19]. The deal, which Hulu hopes will increase its informative news display, will span three years.

Original Content Updates

Photo courtesy of liljas-library.com

Among the many items offered on Hulu are some shows created originally for Hulu. Hulu’s original content selection received a huge boost when the company issued a straight-to-series order for a show based on a Stephen King novel. J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions will produce 11/22/63, which was originally written by King in 2011 [20]. The intense, thriller will revolve around a teacher that has to travel back to 1963 to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating then-president John F. Kennedy.

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

Due to its increasing popularity, the company has decided to bring back Hulu Original “The Wrong Mans” for a second season [21]. A joint venture between Hulu and BBC Comedy, the show will return with four brand-new episodes that pick up with characters Phil Bourne (James Corden) and Sam Pinkett (Matthew Baynton), who were assumed to be dead, coming back and venturing off on some journey across the world. The season premieres on December 24.

Hulu has also started planning for 2015 with news of another original content piece [22]. The company ordered a new TV show called Difficult People to begin production early on next year. The show comes with executive producers Amy Poehler and Dave Becky, and Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner will star in Difficult People [23].

Sources

[1] Hulu Company Logo, thenextweb.com, RT: 11/29/2014

[2] Hulu Company Description, Bloomberg Businessweek, RT: 11/29/2014

[3] Hulu Executives, Hulu.com, RT: 11/29/2014

[4] Hulu Documentaries, Hulu.com, RT: 11/29/2014

[5] Hulu Original Programming, Hulu.com, RT: 11/29/2014

[6] Hulu: The IPO That Never Happened, Inside Business 360, RT: 11/29/2014

[7] A Big 2012, Hulu.com Blogs, RT: 11/29/2014

[8] Hulu 2012 Breakdown, Gigaom, RT: 11/29/2014

[9] Hulu 2013 Breakdown, Subscriptioncontent.net, RT: 11/29/2014

[10] Hulu 2013 Sales, Bloomberg, RT: 11/29/2014

[11] Walt Disney’s 2013 Fiscal Year, Walt Disney’s 2013 Annual Fiscal Report, RT: 11/29/2014

[12] Farmed and Dangerous, Tubefilter, RT: 11/29/2014

[13] Hulu Restructures Branded Content Plan, adage.com, RT: 11/29/2014

[14] Hulu CEO Mulls Cutting Number of Ads, NYPost, RT: 11/29/2014

[15] Hulu Plus May Cut Back Ads, Cynopsis Media, RT: 11/29/2014

[16] Hulu Makes Peace With Apple’s 30 Percent Cut, Gigaom, RT: 11/29/2014

[17] Hulu-Viacom, Variety, RT: 11/29/2014

[18] Hulu Picks Up ABC-Cancelled Shows, Deadline, RT: 11/29/2014

[19] Hulu Adds HuffPost Live Videos, Huffington Post, RT: 11/29/2014

[20] Hulu Orders New Show Based on King Novel, Hollywood Reporter, RT: 11/29/2014

[21] The Wrong Mans Back on Hulu, The Futon Critic, RT: 11/29/2014

[22] Hulu Picks Up Difficult People, comingsoon.net, RT: 11/29/2014

[23] Hulu Orders New Show, TV Series Finale, RT: 11/29/2014

Hulu

Posted on October 5, 2014 by kdtinder

by Kay Tinder

OVERVIEW

Photo Courtesy of: technobuffalo.com

Hulu is a streaming video on demand (SVOD) service that allows the public to see clips, television series (scripted and reality), and movies virtually anywhere. Hulu offers free, ad-sponsored content as well as a membership package called Hulu Plus—a $7.99 monthly fee that gives a user a broader selection of content, lessens the burden of ads, and allows access to more platforms to view the content. Since the company is private, Hulu is not forced to disclose their financials. However, the company did announce that they reached $1 billion in revenue in 2013 [1].

Disney, 21^st Century Fox, and Comcast’s NBCUniversal share ownership in the company that has six million subscribers and has over 100,000 episodes and 5,400 films streaming [2]. The video streaming company has added more content, strengthened ties with various networks, interacted with the community, and experimented with new advertising models in order to stay competitive with ever changing new media.

NEW CONTENT

Photo Courtesy of: blog.hulu.com

James Franco released his much anticipated Saturday Night Live (SNL) documentary exclusively to Hulu’s Plus subscribers. Saturday Night started as Franco’s NYU Film School Project that gave a behind-the-scenes look at a week of SNL and the production process of a single episode [3]. Since its original film festival debuts, the documentary has received mostly positive reviews. Releasing content with such high buzz on a private service urges Hulu users to upgrade to Plus and pay a little extra to be part of the limited audience that sees exclusive content.

Photo Courtesy of: books.usatoday.com

Stephen King’s best-selling novel, 11/22/63, has just been ordered as a miniseries [4]. The Hulu Original will be split into nine, hour-long episodes. The drama follows Jake Epping, a high school English teacher, who travels through time to the late 50’s. His goal is to prevent the President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Both King and J.J. Abrams (Bad Robot Productions) are working as executive producers, with Bridget Carpenter and Bryan Burk as writers [5]. This will also be the first time Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) and Hulu will collaborate on original programming [4]. Having big names on this project will certainly add hype to the new show and bring more traffic towards Hulu.

Casual is a straight-to-series, half-hour comedy series about a brother and sister, the first single and the latter newly divorced, who navigate the modern dating world while also raising a teenager under one roof. The ten episode, single-camera production is to be produced by Oscar-nominated director Jason Reitman and through Lionsgate Television [6]. Lionsgate adds to Hulu’s content connections while Reitman’s name and reputation bring in more customers.

Photo Courtesy of: www.projectcasting.com

ABC’s show Selfie , starring John Cho, was ordered to produce 13 episodes, but the comedy was cancelled after its seventh. Hulu decided to pick up the series and promised to release the six remaining episodes once a week, similar to its original television format [7]. It’s becoming more and more common for streaming services to save shows that are cancelled from traditional cable. Often they will finish whatever content they have produced or buy the rights and continue to produce more seasons.

Around the same time FX announced they would be streaming every the Simpsons episode ever produced, Hulu released that all 17 seasons of South Park would be available on Hulu, with new episodes available the day after they air [8]. This is just one of the many series Hulu makes binge-able while also keeping it up-to-date, a service that other streaming competitors do not provide.

Big names with a reputation of consistently producing good content litter Hulu’s upcoming shows. No doubt, Hulu’s continuous name-dropping will continue to draw people to its streaming services.

VIACOM

Photo Courtesy of: tvweek.com

Hulu has just expanded its deal with Viacom, increasing the amount and diversity of content on both Hulu and Hulu Plus. Viacom owns a diverse array of networks like Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, and TVLand. Already streaming shows like the Colbert Report, Breadwinners, and Awkward, Hulu will be adding Invader Zim, Workaholics, Spongebob Squarepants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—the final two being streamed in Spanish. They will also be refreshing already present content to include full past season of the Jersey Shore, Catfish, and many more [9]. This strengthened relationship could lead to more exclusive content in the future that would entice consumers to purchase Hulu Plus over other competitors.

APP UPDATES

Hulu has upgraded its free iOS app for Hulu Plus subscribers. Three new panels have been added to the initial screen. “Home” gives a selection of the best or popular content handpicked by Hulu. “Shows you Watch” keeps track of the shows you watch and makes them easily accessible. “Navigation” provides the categorized list of all of Hulu’s content.

Photo Courtesy of: blog.hulu.com 2

“Cast to TV” allows members to throw whatever they’re watching onto their television. Now, the new app will allow your phone to become the remote [10]. As more people turn to their phones and tablets to view content, Hulu’s refined app will serve as a plus for users.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

On October 16^th, 2014, the streaming service showed its support for the LGBT community when converting its usual green accents to purple for a day.

Photo Courtesy of: blog.hulu.com

To celebrate national #SpiritDay, Hulu highlighted LGBT-inclusive television series and films, including Ugly Betty, uncensored Sailor Moon, and Hulu Origianl East Los High—which also has an all-Latino cast. On this day, Hulu also reminded the public their partnership with GLADD, and Hulu’s ambition to have all backgrounds and cultures represented in their services [11]. Hulu is trying to show that they truly care about their audience and not just their money. They want all to feel relevant and welcome to their services.

ADVERTISING

Advertising on Hulu is affective, interactive, and integrated. Hulu has brought creative advertising techniques into their services that often leave competitors in the dust. Using choice-based ads allows the user to feel some power in what they watch and also helps advertisers target their market. Less wasted impressions means more money from advertisers, more money for Hulu, and less advertisements.

Photo Courtesy of: jinglepunks.com

Subway produced 4 to 9ers, six ten-minute episodes about high schoolers and their first part-time jobs. The main character works in a Subway and the business’s logo is in almost every frame. The integrated marketing technique was a huge hit and topped as Hulu’s most popular short-form comedy series [12]. Despite its success with unique advertising, Hulu is having some doubts.

Mike Hopkins, CEO of Hulu, is reconsidering the amount of ads shown on Hulu Plus. In December 2013, Hulu would show an average of 82.3 ads per month, versus YouTube’s 32.3 ad average per viewer [13]. Showing this amount of ads may bring in money, but is incredibly risky, especially on a service that’s paid for. If too many ads are shown, users will ditch Hulu, much like cable, and opt for a service that’s cheaper or shows fewer ads. Hulu is on the right track by constantly looking for new methods of marketing. Replacing traditional advertisements with integrated marketing, like 4 to 9ers, makes advertising seem more like content rather than harassment.

[1] http://blog.hulu.com/2013/12/18/a-strong-2013/

[2] http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/hulu-renews-viacom-deal-expanding-selection-of-nickelodeon-shows-1201341031/

[3] http://blog.hulu.com/2014/09/26/james-francos-snl-documentary-debuts-on-hulu/

[4] http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/hulu-orders-stephen-kings-112263-kennedy-assassination-thriller-series-from-j-j-abrams-1201310792/

[5] http://nypost.com/2014/09/22/stephen-kings-book-on-jfk-assassination-to-be-hulu-series/

[6] http://blog.hulu.com/2014/10/30/jason-reitmans-casual-comes-to-hulu/

[7] http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/25/showbiz/tv/selfie-hulu-episodes/

[8] http://blog.hulu.com/2014/09/26/all-seasons-of-south-park-now-on-hulu/

[9] http://www.cnet.com/news/happy-happy-joy-joy-hulu-scores-cult-toon-classics/

[10] http://blog.hulu.com/2014/10/01/introducing-the-reimagined-hulu-plus-app-for-iphone/

[11] http://blog.hulu.com/2014/10/16/hulu-goes-purple-for-spiritday/

[12] http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/subway-serves-up-second-season-of-hulus-4-to-9ers-exclusive-1200325496/

[13] http://nypost.com/2014/10/08/hulu-ceo-mulls-cutting-number-of-ads-running-on-hulu-plus/

Hulu

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Caroline Soss

By Caroline Soss

Photo courtesy of: [1] www.crunchbase.com

ADDRESS

12312 West Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064 [2]

CONTACT

Phone (310) 570-4700
Website www.hulu.com
Twitter @hulu

PROFILE

Hulu is an over-the-top video service provider streaming on-demand programming from NBC, ABC, A&E, AMC, FOX, The CW, MTV and more.

Hulu offers advertisement-supported free programming with limited commercial interruption on its website Hulu.com. Regular advertisers include Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, Microsoft, GEICO and Target.

Photo courtesy of: [4] www.vulture.com

For a monthly fee of $7.99, Hulu Plus subscribers can stream unlimited premium and exclusive content from any Hulu+ enabled device. These devices include smart televisions, game consoles, smartphones/tablets and media players like Apple TV and Roku [3].

Hulu delivers over 70,400 hours of video from 514 different content partners [5]. Hulu streams popular TV shows such as FAMILY GUY, SCANDAL, THE VOICE, PARKS AND RECREATION, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART [6] and more than 800 films from The Criterion Collection [7].

Photo courtesy of: [6] www.hulu.com

Hulu also produces its own original content like DEADBEAT, EAST LOS HIGH, THE AWESOMES and THE HOTWIVES OF ORLANDO [8].

Watch Hulu’s promo for their 2014 Originals here. Video courtesy of: [9] www.hulu.com.

Hulu.com was launched in 2008 as a joint venture between Comcast’s NBCUniversal and News Corporation [10]. Today, NBCUniversal, The Walt Disney Company’s Disney-ABC Television Group and 21st Century Fox’s Fox Broadcasting Company together own Hulu’s online subscription service [11].

As of February 2014, Hulu reported more than five million Hulu+ subscribers and thirty million monthly free service users [12] with over four billion videos streamed in 2013 [13].

KEY EXECUTIVES

CEO Mike Hopkins, photo courtesy of: [14] www.engadget.com

Last October, Hulu replaced its acting CEO with Mike Hopkins, former President of Distribution at Fox for five years [14]. Within weeks of joining the company, Hopkins hired Disney’s Elaine Paul as CFO [11]. In February 2014, Hopkins hired NBC’s Peter Naylor as SVP of Advertising Sales [13] and Sony’s Tiam Lim as Chief Technology Officer [12]. In March 2014, Disney’s Tim Connolly joined the company as Head of Distribution [15]. In April 2014, Warner Bros.’ Craig Erwich was hired as Hulu’s SVP and Head of Content [16].

FINANCIALS

Hulu is a privately held company and not required to publicly release its financial information. However, CEO Mike Hopkins reported Hulu earning one billion dollars in annual revenue at the end of last year [17]. In 2013, Hulu’s owners (Comcast, Disney and 21st Century Fox) also dropped offers to sell Hulu and instead invested $750 million dollars into the company [11].

Photo courtesy of: [18] www.techcrunch.com

FOCUS IN THE U.S.

In February 2014, Hulu sold its Japanese subsidiary to Tokyo-based Nippon Television Network Corporation. Since 2011, Hulu had streamed 13,000+ videos from fifty different American and European content providers to Japan. While Hulu will continue to make its content and brand available for use by Nippon TV as well as provide infrastructure service to the Japanese company, Hulu will focus on the U.S. rather than internationally [19].

MULTI-PLATFORM

Hulu aims to operate on all types of platforms with 50% of Hulu+ subscribers streaming solely on devices [17].

Photo courtesy of: [21] blog.hulu.com

In April 2014, Amazon.com launched Amazon Fire TV – the company’s new set-top box/game console hybrid positioned to replace media players like Apple TV, Roku and Xbox [20].

Amazon Fire TV streams not only Amazon’s own online video subscription service (Amazon Prime) but also partner on-demand services, including Hulu Plus. Hulu promises the “most enhanced and updated version of the Hulu Plus Living Room experience on Amazon Fire TV” [21]. Further, Amazon added Hulu Plus to the list of services available through voice search by speaking into the Fire TV remote – making Hulu even easier to utilize on this new platform [22].

NEW CONTENT

Hulu is continuing to grow its content library with both current season television and original programming [17].

Photo courtesy of: [23] blog.hulu.com

In April 2014, CEO Mike Hopkins announced Hulu will be exclusively streaming NBCUniversal-produced THE MINDY PROJECT and Golden Globe-winning comedy BROOKLYN NINE-NINE as well as popular series like KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS and TOP CHEF. These high-in-demand hit programs will not be available to competitors Netflix or Amazon Prime, ultimately giving Hulu monopoly control over more content [23].

Hulu also recently acquired the rights to stream ELEMENTARY, the highly rated CBS drama starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu [24], and popular CBS classics like THE BRADY BRUNCH and CHEERS.

Photo courtesy of: [25] blog.hulu.com

Hulu is expanding its library of popular TV shows from past decades [25]. This may be a tactic to keep fairly older viewers, who grew up with this content, entertained; 60% of Hulu subscribers fall between the ages of 18 and 49 years old with an average age of 39 [26].

Photo courtesy of: [26] www.hulu.com/advertising

However, the Nielsen Company will continue excluding broadband-only households, a large total of Hulu Plus viewership, in the ratings for the 2014-2015 television season [27].

ORIGINAL CONTENT

Hulu developed twenty original series in 2013 and plans to launch twenty more this year [28]. Hulu’s original shows THE AWESOMES, BEHIND THE MASK and THE WRONG MANS were among the top ten weekly shows watched on Hulu when they aired in 2013 and were all recently renewed for another season in 2014 [17].

New in 2014, Hulu’s original comedy series DEADBEAT, starring Tyler Labine, is receiving strong reviews from Variety, the New York Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer since its premiere [29]. All ten episodes of the show’s first season were uploaded to Hulu on April 9th, 2014, and only hours later DEADBEAT as dubbed “Hulu’s best show yet” [30].

Photo courtesy of: [29] www.hulu.com

DEADBEAT follows Kevin Pacalioglu (Tyler Labine), a lazy stoner who can see the dead and becomes a freelance medium to pay his rent, helping ghosts move on to the afterlife by competing in eating contests and proposition their ex-girlfriends.

Watch the DEADBEAT series trailer here. Video courtesy of: [31] www.hulu.com.

Critics, however, argue that Hulu being owned by television companies may explain why competitor Netflix is still spending so much more than Hulu on original programming [32].

TV EVERYWHERE

In the past year, Hulu has hired 260 new employees to complete a staff of more than 725 members with plans to continue growing the company [17].

As public interest in more convenient Internet TV Everywhere services grows, analysts predict subscribers may more easily authenticate their pay services through a social media account like Facebook or Twitter – a business tactic that may be in Hulu’s near future [33].

SOURCES

[1] Hulu CrunchBase Profile. CrunchBase. RT: 4/18/14

[2] Company Overview of Hulu, LLC. Bloomberg BusinessWeek. RT: 4/18/14

[3] Hulu – About. Hulu.com. RT: 4/18/14

[4] “Streaming Scorecard: Is Hulu Plus Still the TV King?” Vulture. RT: 4/19/14

[5] “Hulu Names Warner Bros. TV’s Craig Erwich Head of Content.” Variety. RT: 4/18/14

[6] Hulu Popular TV Shows. Hulu.com. RT: 4/20/14

[7] “‘The Great Beauty’ Debuts Only on Hulu Plus.” Blog.hulu.com. RT: 4/19/14

[8] “A New Year With New Hulu Originals.” Blog.hulu.com. RT: 4/19/14

[9] Hulu Promos 2014 Hulu Originals. Hulu.com. RT: 4/20/14

[10] “Hulu Opens to Public.” Hulu.com. RT: 4/18/14

[11] “Hulu Hires Disney’s Elaine Paul as CFO.” Variety. RT: 4/18/14

[12] “A World-Class Builder Joins the Hulu Ranks.” Blog.hulu.com. RT: 4/18/14

[13] “A Big Sales Win – Welcome Peter Naylor.” Blog.hulu.com RT: 4/18/14

[14] “Hulu officially announces its new CEO, former Fox exec Mike Hopkins.” Engadget. RT: 4/18/14

[15] “Hulu Hires Disney’s Tim Connolly as Head of Distribution.” Variety. RT: 4/18/14

[16] “Hulu Original Series Chief Departs Amid New Programming Push.” The Hollywood Reporter. RT: 4/18/14

[17] “A Strong 2013.” Blog.hulu.com. RT: 4/18/14

[18] “The Second Screen Becomes The First Screen: Hulu Says 50% Of Its 5M Subscribers Use Devices Exclusively.” TechCrunch. RT: 4/18/14

[19] “Hulu Says Sayonara, Sells Off Japanese Unit to Nippon TV.” TechCrunch. RT: 4/18/14

[20] “Amazon Fire TV review: the set-top that tries to do everything.” Engadget. RT: 4/19/14

[21] “Hulu Plus on Amazon Fire TV.” Blog.hulu.com. RT: 4/19/14

[22] “Amazon Fire TV’s voice search expands to cover Hulu Plus and Showtime, but not Netflix.” Engadget. RT: 4/19/14

[23] “We’re Flipping Out for NBCU Library Shows Only on Hulu Plus.” Blog.hulu.com. RT: 4/19/14

[24] “Hulu Plus Acquires Subscription Video on Demand Rights for Popular CBS Drama ‘ELEMENTARY.’” Business Wire. RT: 4/19/14

[25] “More CBS Shows Coming to a Hulu Plus Screen Near You.” Blog.hulu.com. RT: 4/19/14

[26] Hulu Advertising. Hulu.com. RT: 4/18/14

[27] “Nielsen Capitulates, Agrees to Withhold Broadband Households from Local Ratings – For Now.” MediaPost. RT: 4/19/14

[28] Hulu Exclusive Series. HuluMovies. RT: 4/20/14

[29] Deadbeat. Hulu.com. RT: 4/20/14

[30] “‘Deadbeat’ Is Hulu’s Best Show Yet.” Flavorwire. RT: 4/19/14

[31] Deadbeat Series Trailer. Hulu.com. RT: 4/21/14

[32] “Netflix has nothing to fear from Hulu’s sad little content expansion.” BGR. RT: 4/20/14

[33] “Hulu’s Original Content Strategy Continues to Progress Steadily.” Adweek. RT: 4/20/14

Hulu

Posted on November 20, 2013 by eamoomey

By Jiayi Jiang

HULU

12312 West Olympic Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90064, United States

www.hulu.com

phone:310-571-4700

About the company

Hulu is an online free video service that offers a selection of hit shows, clips, and movies from over 260 content companies. Hulu Venture was established in March 2007 and is operated independently by a team in the Los Angles office. Hulu videos currently only offer to users in USA,overseas territories and Japan In April 2009, Hulu became a joint venture of NBCUniversal Television Group, Fox Broadcasting Company, and Disney ABC Television Group. In addition to offering free content, Hulu also has a paid version called Hulu Plus, which supports more video content. [1]

Hulu plus service

HULU Plus

Hulu Plus is a paid online service that gives users access to unlimited instant streaming of TV shows, movies, trailers, and exclusive content. Hulu Plus complements the website Hulu by enabling paid users to watch episodes beyond the ones available for free.[2]

Key Person

CEO: Mike Hopkins

[3]Mike Hopkins http://www.thewrap.com//images/2013/10/Screen-shot-2013-10-25-at-2.52.35-PM.png

Mike Hopkins—–CEO

CFO: Elaine Paul

Elaine Paul——CFO

Competitors:

In the online video market, Hulu’s competitors are the other online video service companies— such as Amazon instant, Netflix, and iTunes, which offer their customes the ability to rent DVDs and to view or download streaming videos. Cable TV is another Hulu’s competitor’s.[3]

Financial information:

The company earned $695 million for 2012, which was a 65% jump over 2011. Also, according the previous CEO, Jason Kilar, Hulu plus adding over 3 million users which is double the number of 2011.The main revenue Hulu earned is form the subscription fee and AD sales. Hulu offers different of ad formats to satisfy what company want to deliver to Hulu’s user.[4]

In the news

1. Change of the Executive

Hulu’s leader ship level is tumultuous in 2013. In January, the founder CEO Jason Kilar left the company. From March, the acting CEO Andy took control of all the business in the company. Finally, on October 17th, the EX-head of distribution for FOX, Mile Hopkins, became the new parents of the Hulu. The first decision Mike did after he took the wheel of the position was nominate the new CFO, Elaine Paul, who was the previously head of strategy and business development at Disney.

The refresh of the whole executive team may bring the Hulu new energy to compete with Netflix and Amzon instant. Due to the background of the Mike Hopkins, the Fox Networks distribution chief, the business model of Hulu may change.[5][6]

2.Technology

: Free Video to Mobile devices

On October 23th, Hulu finally bring the free video to mobile. It is a big move for Hulu, after 6 years launched, they finally begin to open the market for mobile industry. However, for now,it just support clips but not full content. Also, the video are only available for mobile browser[7]

: Hulu join PS4

On November 12th, Hulu Plus officially supported for the Sony Playstation 4. For PS4 version, Hulu is trying to increase user experience by adding specific types of content like Hulu Kids, Originals. For the function part, the search engine has been introduced. User can also register account on the console itself. [8]

As mobile devices will take more important role in our life, Streaming video wbesite like Hulu has to get more ways for user to reach the information. Going to mibile is a rigth way for Hulu, but they have to work hard to increase the user experience.

3. Original Series

By far, Hulu has produced more than 25 Hulu original Series. Original Series is a way for Hulu to expand their TV Universe. Beside this, the exclusive shows also helps Hulu to earn large number of subscribers. Hulu is preparing 20 original series next year with the UK based on the splendid job of ‘The Wrong mans’ [9]

: Fugget About It

Fugget About It (October 13)A animated comedy about the misadventure of a mob family that’s forced to move to Canada.

: The strange calls

The strange calls (October 19)

This supernatural comedy about a police officer who has demoted to night watch in a town which strange calls happened every night.

: Behind the mask

Behind the mask:

A story about sports mascots and their lives in and out of Costume.[10]

Mother up!

: The Wrong mans

Mother up! ( November 6 )

An animated comedy Starring Eva Longoria, who plays a former music executive who moves to the suburbs to raise her children.[11]

The wrong mans (November 11)

A cooperated comedy series for the BBC and Hulu. British style comedy illustrated a pair of silly British work together to solve crime. This comedy was regard as the most successful comedy debutin previous eight years.[12]

Through the distribution of different types of original series of Hulu, they are on the way to attracting variety group of audiences. Not only for the western drama, Hulu now working on bring in more international drama. More content Hulu have, more subscriber they will have.

4.New Business strategy

At the developing age of Hulu, their mission was the complementary to the cable. However, After the Mike Hopkins became the CEO, the strategy changed as well.From the Report of Los Angeles Times’ Company Town.They said “The newly installed Hulu executive team is believed to already be pursuing deals with cable operators to offer subscribers access to Hulu as a way to watch current shows online, according to several people with knowledge of the situation.” [13] It is a good news for Hulu if it can successful become the platform to deliver onlince content of cable company. However, the problem is some cable company already offer the online service, so the talk is still in their early age.[14] [15]

Reference:

[1] About the company

[2]Hulu plus service

[3] Hulu’s competitors

[4] Financial information

[5] New CEO-Mike Hopkins

[6]Elaine Paul as CFO

[7] mobile video

[8] Hulu in PS4

[9] Hulu’s new original series

[10] Behind the mask

[11] Mother up