Roger Fingas
Hulu on Tuesday announced content deals with two of its co-owners, Fox and Disney, as it prepares to launch a live TV service next year.
The Fox material will include "entertainment, news, sports and non-fiction content," Reuters reported. Disney, meanwhile, will be offering up video from channels lke ABC and ESPN.
Time Warner — which bought a 10 percent stake in Hulu this August, and could soon be owned by AT&T — is planning to include channels like TBS, Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies.
The new service doesn't yet have a firm launch date or pricing, but will include at least some on-demand video on top of live broadcasts. At the moment Hulu offers two on-demand tiers: a $7.99 option with regular ad breaks, and a $11.99 "no commercials" plan which, despite its name, still inserts limited ads into some shows.
Rumors have hinted that Hulu could charge close to $40 per month for the combo live TV/on-demand package, but that price might be too high relative to bundles from Sling TV and PlayStation Vue.
Apple has long been rumored as wanting a live TV service of its own, but the company has reportedly taken a hardline approach in negotiations and made little headway — even trying to undercut Disney, a close corporate partner whose CEO is on the Apple board.
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
Sponsored Content
14 Comments
"even trying to undercut Disney, "
Please explain. How can Apple undercut Disney?
I remember the first time I saw Fox News on YouTube I was convinced it was a spoof on a reality news show. I'm still not unconvinced.
I gave up on hulu a long time ago. Not a brand I can get behind. It drove me crazy that they still inserted ads into their "ad free" service. Totally insane. Plus if the rumored price is accurate, I already have all of those same channels for less with sling. $40 is way to close to a cable package and that's EXACLTY the price range Apple was pushing against. It would be ridiculous. Cable prices have far outstripped inflation by more than 4x in the last two decades. Apple seems to have generally sought to provide value to the customer with their services.
I wonder if HULU will lose Timewarner content. I would assume ATT is going to prefer some level exclusivity or preference on their network, otherwise why make the purchase?
AT&T appears to be way ahead of the pack. And they also have the right ideas for the future. Cord cutters rejoice!
It's interesting how TimeWarner sold TimeWarner Cable and then forges ahead with AT&T for a G5 future.
Google Fiber appears to be hitting the breaks as well since 1 GB Wireless G5 will be here in 2 years.
https://youtu.be/yIeT6vmm9Nc
Time will tell.
Cord cutting is great and all but if you thought it would somehow reduce cost... think again.