Hulu Goes Bigger and Bolder at 2016 Upfront Presentation, Unveils +30% Growth in Subscribers, New Programming Deals and Ad Partnerships
Company Announces Launch of Hulu Documentary Films, Beginning with
SVOD Acquisition of Ron Howard-Directed Documentary THE
BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK
New Partnerships Announced with BrightLine to Bring Interactive Ad
Units in the Living Room, and with Nielsen and Millward Brown to
Deliver First-to-Market Ad Measurement Tools
Hulu Orders New Seasons of Premium Originals THE PATH and THE
MINDY PROJECT, and Announces New Election Special from Triumph, the
Insult Comic Dog
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today at the Hulu Upfront Presentation at Madison Square Garden Theater,
the premium on-demand streaming service announced that its subscriber
base has grown over 30% year over year and will reach 12 million
subscribers in the U.S. by this month. Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins, SVP of
Advertising Sales Peter Naylor, Chief Marketing Officer Jenny Wall and
SVP, Head of Content, Craig Erwich also unveiled new content deals and
ground breaking advertising partnerships with Nielsen and Millward Brown
that will deliver more efficient, first-to-market measurement tools for
advertisers and marketers.
“Over the past year, we’ve propelled Hulu by adding an extraordinary
array of original series, hit broadcast and cable shows and blockbuster
movies to our content portfolio — all of which has led to incredible
growth in subscribers and engagement,” said Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins. “In
2016, we’re going even bigger and bolder. We’ll expand our offering with
more premium content and brand new ad measurement products that will
continue to make Hulu the leader in choice for seamless entertainment
and advertising experiences.”
Hulu Launches Hulu Documentary Films with Highly-Anticipated
Documentary The Beatles: Eight Days A Week from Director
Ron Howard
Hulu has secured the exclusive U.S. streaming video on-demand rights to
Academy Award Winner Ron Howard’s feature documentary The Beatles:
Eight Days A Week (working title). Featuring rare and
exclusive footage, the film is produced with the full cooperation of
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison. White
Horse Pictures’ Grammy Award-winning Nigel Sinclair, Scott Pascucci and
Academy Award-winner and multiple nominee Brian Grazer of Imagine
Entertainment are producing with Howard. Apple Corps Ltd’s Jeff Jones
and Jonathan Clyde are serving as executive producers, along with
Imagine’s Michael Rosenberg and White Horse’s Guy East and Nicholas
Ferrall.
Award-winning Editor Paul Crowder is the editor. Crowder’s long-time
collaborator, Mark Monroe, is serving as writer. Marc Ambrose is a
supervising producer.
Debuting in theaters and on Hulu this fall, The Beatles: Eight
Days A Week is based on the first part of The Beatles’ career
(1962-1966) — the period in which they toured and captured the world’s
acclaim. Ron Howard’s film will explore how John Lennon, Paul McCartney,
George Harrison and Ringo Starr came together to become this
extraordinary phenomenon, “The Beatles.” It will explore their inner
workings — how they made decisions, created their music and built their
collective career together — all the while, exploring The Beatles’
extraordinary and unique musical gifts and their remarkable,
complementary personalities. The film will focus on the time period from
the early Beatles’ journey in the days of The Cavern Club in Liverpool
to their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1966.
The Beatles: Eight Days A Week marks the first documentary
feature to premiere exclusively on Hulu following its theatrical run and
comes to Hulu in the company’s first-ever licensing deal with Apple
Corps Ltd. The film will be the first to launch under the new Hulu
Documentary Films arm, which will serve as a new home for premium
original and exclusive documentary film titles coming to Hulu.
Hulu to Bring Interactive Advertising Into the Living Room in New
Partnership with BrightLine
Hulu has partnered with BrightLine, a leader in dynamic, interactive
advertising, to be the first streaming service to deliver
first-to-market interactive advertising units built exclusively for the
living room. The announcement was made today by Hulu’s SVP of
Advertising Sales, Peter Naylor.
Together, Hulu and BrightLine will offer a highly-engaging and
convenient advertising experience that is built exclusively for
connected TVs. Havas Media, a leader in global marketing, will be the
exclusive charter agency for the new product. The new interactive ad
units will launch on Hulu this summer.
“Hulu offers brands the most effective way to reach the streaming
audience, at scale, in the living room,” said Hulu SVP of Advertising
Sales, Peter Naylor. “The partnerships we’ve announced today with
Nielsen, Millward Brown and BrightLine point to the future of television
and everything that’s possible in a connected TV environment — and we
are happy to be leading the way in both creativity and measurement.”
Hulu Delivers New Measurement Tools for Advertisers through
Partnerships with Nielsen and Millward Brown
Today, Hulu revealed a new collaboration with Nielsen that will enable
digital ad measurement through Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings to capture OTT
viewing in the living room environment for the first time ever. This
will be the first comprehensive ad measurement solution to debut across
living room platforms from Roku and PlayStation to Xbox and Apple TV and
all Hulu-enabled living room devices. Through the collaboration, Hulu
will have the capability to deliver the accurate measurement of
viewership beyond the PC for advertisers on a campaign level basis.
In addition, Hulu announced it will begin to provide increased
advertising effectiveness insights and tools through a new partnership
with multinational market research firm, Millward Brown. The partnership
will deliver studies, research papers and stats including brand affinity
metrics for marketers and advertisers that will span across over-the-top
viewing environments. Magna Global, the strategic global investment and
intelligence unit of IPG Mediabrands, with clients including Arby’s,
Aveeno, BMW, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, FCA US LLC and IHOP, will be
beta partners at launch in this groundbreaking initiative for Hulu.
Hulu Expands Originals Slate and Confirms New Election Special from
Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog
Hulu has picked up critically acclaimed drama series The Path for
a second season, as well as comedy series The Mindy Project for
season five.
Since its premiere on Hulu in March, The Path has drawn acclaim
from critics and fans. Stars Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan and Hugh
Dancy took to the stage at Hulu’s Upfront presentation today to reveal
that Hulu has officially greenlit the series for a second season order. The
Path comes to Hulu from Universal Television and Jason Katims’ True
Jack Productions. The show was created by Jessica Goldberg, who also
wrote and executive-produced the series, along with Katims and Michelle
Lee of True Jack Productions. The series follows a family at the center
of a controversial cult as they struggle with relationships, faith and
power. The finale episode of season one will air May 25th and
all past episodes are available to stream on Hulu.
After ordering season four of The Mindy Project, the comedy
series from best-selling Author and Creator Mindy Kaling has continued
to garner acclaim and captivate fans on Hulu. Today, Hulu SVP and Head
of Content Craig Erwich, alongside Mindy Kaling, announced that Hulu has
officially picked up the series for a fifth season.
The Mindy Project is a single-camera comedy series created by and
starring Emmy®-nominated writer/producer and New York Times best-selling
author Mindy Kaling that follows a skilled OB/GYN navigating choppy
waters of both her personal and professional life. The series also stars
Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Ike Barinholtz, Beth Grant, Xosha Roquemore and
Fortune Feimster. From 3 Arts Entertainment in association with
Universal Television, The Mindy Project is executive
produced by Kaling, Howard Klein, Matt Warburton, Charlie Grandy and
Michael Spiller.
In addition, Hulu announced a second election special from Triumph, the
Insult Comic Dog that will debut exclusively on the service later this
year. Following the success of Triumph’s Election Special 2016,
Robert Smigel will return as the voice and creator of Triumph, the
Insult Comic Dog for a brand new special that will be premiere just in
time for the election.
Triumph’s Election Special, The Mindy Project and The Path join
Hulu’s growing original programming slate, which includes drama series Shut
Eye, Chance and The Handmaid’s Tale.
About Hulu
Hulu is a premium streaming TV destination that offers hundreds of
thousands of hours of the best of current season programming, premium
original content, films and full seasons of hit series to subscribers
with limited commercials for $7.99 per month or commercial free for
$11.99 per month. Hulu is the only streaming subscription service that
offers current season content from 5 of the 6 largest U.S. broadcast
networks. Since its launch in 2008, Hulu has been at the forefront of
entertainment and technology and continues to redefine TV by connecting
viewers with the stories they love.
Contacts
Hulu
Alexandra Finegersh, 424-273-8130
alex.finegersh@hulu.com
