Original content From January 17, 2011, to April 24, 2014, Hulu streamed its own in-house web series
The Morning After, a light-hearted pop-culture news show. It was produced by Hulu in conjunction with
Jace Hall's HDFilms and stars Brian Kimmet and
Ginger Gonzaga. Producing the show was a first for the company, which in the past has been primarily a content distributor. On January 16, 2012, Hulu announced that it would be airing its first original script based program, titled
Battleground, which premiered in February 2012. The program aired on Hulu's free web service rather than on the subscription-based
Hulu Plus.
Battleground is described as a documentary-style political drama. Later that same month, Hulu announced it would air
The Fashion Fund, a six-part reality series, and the winner of the show would receive $300,000 to start their career. To continue with its original programming movement, Hulu announced that there would be a total of seven original programs that were planned to air on its service:
Battleground,
Day in the Life, and
Up to Speed were previously mentioned; and on April 19, Hulu added four more shows to its list: ''Don't Quit Your Daydream
, Flow
, The Awesomes
, and We Got Next''. Some of these programs began airing in 2012, while others premiered over the next few years. On May 21, 2012, Hulu announced it would be bringing
Kevin Smith to its lineup of original programming. Smith hosts a movie discussion show titled
Spoilers, which began airing in mid-2012. In March 2016,
Lionsgate Premiere and Hulu jointly acquired distribution rights to the film
Joshy, which was later released on August 12, 2016. On May 4, 2016, Hulu acquired
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, as its first documentary acquisition, as part of a planned Hulu Documentary Films collection. The film premiered theatrically on September 15, before debuting on the streaming service on September 17. On March 3, 2025, Hulu streamed the
97th Academy Awards in simulcast with ABC, making the first time that the Oscars were streamed on the platform. However, the airing was plagued with multiple technical problems. These included some server outages in the beginning of the award ceremony, as well as the live event ending just before the
Best Actress nominees were announced.
Content partners Following the start of its service, Hulu signed deals with several new content providers making additional material available to consumers. At launch, Hulu streamed movies and shows from co-owners
News Corporation and
NBCUniversal, as well as from
Sony Pictures,
MGM,
Warner Bros., and
Lionsgate. On April 30, 2009,
the Walt Disney Company announced that it would join the venture, purchasing a 27% stake in Hulu. On June 1, 2011, Hulu announced a deal to add hundreds of films from
Miramax to the service. On October 28, 2011, Hulu announced that they had signed a five-year deal with
The CW, giving the streaming site access to next-day content from five of the six major networks. On September 18, 2013, Hulu announced a multi-year deal with the
BBC that would deliver 2,000 episodes from 144 different titles in the first 12 months. In 2015, Hulu began offering content from
Showtime for an additional $8.99/month, which is cheaper than Showtime's own streaming service. On June 16, 2016, Hulu announced a deal with the Disney-ABC Television Group for the exclusive SVOD rights to past seasons of seven Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD series, and more than 20 Disney Channel original movies. The CW's agreement with Hulu ended September 18, 2016; in-season streaming of current CW programs moved to the network's own digital platforms, and Netflix began to carry past seasons of The CW's programs through 2019. , a limited amount of content from
CBS's library is available on-demand, mostly limited to shows that are no longer producing new episodes. A deal was reached to bring live broadcasts of CBS and several affiliated channels to Hulu's upcoming live streaming service as well as to make more shows available on-demand. In April 2018, Hulu announced a partnership with
Spotify that allows users to purchase both streaming services for a discounted price per month. This discount also includes an even larger discounted rate for university students. Hulu distributes video on its own website and syndicates its hosting to other sites, and allows users to embed Hulu clips on their websites. Hulu retains between thirty and fifty percent of advertising revenue generated by the shows it distributes. and
Warner Music Group in December 2009. In early March 2010,
Viacom announced that it was pulling two of the website's most popular shows,
The Colbert Report and
The Daily Show, off Hulu. The programs had been airing on Hulu since late 2008. In February 2011, both shows were made available for streaming on Hulu again.
The Daily Show was again removed from Hulu in March 2017 in order to push viewers to watch the program on Viacom and Comedy Central's apps. In 2012,
Viz Media,
Aniplex of America, and other distributors teamed up to create
Neon Alley. It had launched on October 2, 2012, as a 24/7 web channel, but in 2014 it had switched to Hulu-only. The site contained exclusive dub premieres with anime such as
Accel World,
Blue Exorcist,
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic,
Fate/Zero and the uncut version of
Sailor Moon. It also had shows such as
Naruto and
Naruto: Shippuden,
Death Note,
Inuyasha,
Bakuman,
Ranma ½,
One Piece,
One-Punch Man, and
Bleach. It went defunct on May 4, 2016. However, Hulu still hosts over 300 anime from
Funimation,
Aniplex of America,
Viz Media, and
Sentai Filmworks, and selected anime began resume to release on Hulu following the deal between Disney and Sony Pictures since 2021. In April 2017, Hulu signed a first-run license deal with
Annapurna Pictures. Hulu also has output deals with
IFC Films and
Magnolia Pictures. Hulu in May 2018 announced its first-ever license deal with
DreamWorks Animation, becoming the exclusive streaming home for future DWA movies feature films, as well as library films. DWA had streamed exclusively through Netflix since 2013. On December 4, 2018, Hulu confirmed an exclusive multi-year first-look SVOD deal with
Funimation, and the deal was later folded into Disney-Sony deal on April 21, 2021. In June 2019, Hulu and
FX signed an output deal with
Lionsgate, where Hulu and FX would respectably gain the streaming and television rights to films released under the Lionsgate label in 2020 and 2021. In August 2019, Hulu agreed to control the streaming rights films released by
Bleecker Street. On March 2, 2020, Hulu launched a dedicated "hub" for content from FX branded as "
FX on Hulu", with the service becoming the exclusive streaming outlet for current and past series from the network. Beginning with
Breeders, new episodes of FX original series also become available on Hulu immediately after their television airing, and selected series will also premiere exclusively on the service. On January 14, 2021, it was announced that following an exclusive 3-week
IMAX engagement,
Searchlight's
Nomadland would be released on Hulu alongside a regular limited theatrical and drive-in run in the United States on February 19. On April 21, 2021, Disney reached a deal for television and streaming rights to
Sony Pictures films from 2022 through 2026, which includes library rights for some of its franchises like
Spider-Man,
Jumanji and
Hotel Transylvania franchises, etc., and licensing anime under
Funimation and
Crunchyroll brands and anime released by
Aniplex of America, and post-pay-one window rights to new releases (after their exclusivity period with
Netflix expires). This deal covers Disney+, Hulu, and Disney's television channels. On May 17, 2021, it started
Onyx Collective which is a content brand for creators. On August 31, 2021, Disney announced that it would fold the American version of
Hotstar—a niche streaming service targeting
Indian Americans—In late 2022, with its
original entertainment content migrating to Hulu. In October 2025, Hulu acquired the rights to the Spanish thriller
Innate, originally developed by Netflix Spain.
Advertisements controversy In early 2024, Hulu faced criticism for airing AI-generated advertisements which were seen as promoting a pro-Israel narrative. One such advertisement depicted Gaza as a tourist destination rather than acknowledging its complex geopolitical context. An article by
Vice highlighted that many viewers found these advertisements controversial due to perceived factual inaccuracies and insensitivity to the ongoing conflict. This led to calls for boycotting Hulu and its parent company, Disney, which holds a majority stake in Hulu and the major
online advertising provider of Disney's online platforms, including
Disney+.
Content providers First and third-party content providers for Hulu. Asterisk (*) denotes third parties, while several international providers secure content deals through
Disney+. •
A&E Networks* •
A&E •
History Channel •
History en Español •
Lifetime •
LMN •
Military History •
ABC •
ABC News •
BBC Studios* •
Disney Television Studios •
20th Television •
20th Television Animation •
ABC Signature •
Disney–ABC Domestic Television •
Disney Channel •
Disney Jr. •
Disney XD •
Disney Television Animation •
ESPN •
Searchlight Television •
Walt Disney Television •
FilmRise* •
Fox* •
Lionsgate Studios* •
Lionsgate Films •
Lionsgate Television •
Roadside Attractions •
National Geographic •
Nat Geo Wild •
Sony* •
Sony Pictures Television •
Crunchyroll, LLC •
Toei Company* •
Toei Animation •
Touchstone Pictures •
Viz Media* •
The Walt Disney Studios •
Walt Disney Pictures •
Walt Disney Animation Studios •
Pixar Animation Studios •
Marvel Studios •
Lucasfilm •
20th Century Studios •
20th Century Animation •
Searchlight Pictures Next-day airing model By early 2026, the traditional "next-day" streaming model on Hulu transitioned following the full integration of Hulu into Disney+. Next-day access is now primarily restricted to Disney-owned properties and third parties with active output deals: •
Disney-owned networks: New episodes from
ABC,
Disney Channel,
Freeform, and
FX are available the day after broadcast via both the standalone service and the Hulu on Disney+ hub. FX on Hulu Originals that also air on FX are available at the same time instead of the day after. •
Fox Corporation: Despite the split of assets,
Fox maintains a long-term agreement where its primetime lineup remains available for next-day streaming on Hulu. •
Departures: Content from
NBCUniversal and
Paramount Skydance networks (such as
NBC,
Bravo, and
Comedy Central) no longer appears next-day, having moved exclusively to
Peacock and
Paramount+ respectively. == Services ==