Hulu

Hulu was founded in 2007 as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBC Univerrsal. Providence Equity Partners and The Walt Disney Company later joined in on the partnership. Hulu.com launched in 2008 as the basis of the streamer. Alec Baldwin appeared in the first Super Bowl ad for the streamer to tease the offerings.

In 2010, Hulu launched subscription series Hulu Plus, which gave viewers access to some full shows on multiple platforms. The subscription cost $9.99. In 2011, Hulu launched its first original, A Day in the Life. September that year marked the threshold of 1 million subscribers for the brand. In July 2015, Showtime became the first premium network add-on service that Hulu offered. It now does so with HBO, Cinemax and STARZ. In September that same year, the streamer launched a commercial-free plan, and the platform hit 12 million subscribers in 2016. May 2017 marked the company’s venture into Live TV to offer live channels in addition to the on-demand library.

September 2017 marked Hulu’s first Emmy win for The Handmaid’s Tale which won Outstanding Drama series. In 2019, The Walt Disney Company full operational control of the streamer as part of its acquisition of 21^st Century Fox. Disney also took the rest of Comcast’s stake in the company by 2023, which granted it full ownership.

The streamer has since produced Emmy-nominated hit shows like The Dropout and Only Murders in the Building, which is about to embark on its fourth season, and films like Eva Longoria’s directorial debut Flamin’ Hot (2023). The FX on Hulu moniker began in December 2021 brand began releasing its own programming via the streamer after the FX on Hulu hub was launched in 2020. As of June 2024, the streamer has 51.1 million paid subscribers in the United States, 70,000 episodes of television, over 95 live channels and seven offices across the United States.