Hulu subscribers up 30% YoY; adds ad partnerships

Hulu Goes Bigger and Bolder at 2016 Upfront Presentation, Unveils +30% Growth in Subscribers, New Programming Deals and Ad Partnerships

NEW YORK, New York — 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 Projectis 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.