Hulu will not be a part of Apple's video streaming service, report says

Although Apple's streaming video platform should offer an assortment of third-party services at launch, Hulu reportedly won't be one of them.

Services that will "likely" be onboard include Starz, Showtime, CBS All Access, Noggin and HBO, CNBC sources said. The people didn't say why Hulu would be excluded, but echoed previous reports saying that Netflix is also not participating.

Those two services are popular enough that they may feel they don't need to sell through the new platform, due to be announced March 25. Netflix helped pioneer streaming video, and Hulu is a joint venture between Disney, Comcast/NBCUniversal and AT&T/WarnerMedia.

Apple is allegedly aiming to take 30 percent of the revenue for subscriptions enabled through its "TV" app. If so, the exposure may not be considered worth it. Video watched in Hulu appears in the TV app regardless.

Hulu also offers subscriptions to outside services on its own, and might not want to jeopardize that business.

Apple is preparing a barrage of original shows costing over $1 billion. At least some of these will likely be free to watch for Apple device owners — it's not yet clear if the service will be accessible via Android or Windows.

18 Comments

tyler82 18 Years · 1107 comments

About 5 years ago

I feel like Apple is so late into the streaming game that I have no more budget to pay for yet another service. Right now I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and HBO Now. It covers almost any TV show and movie I would ever want to watch, on demand. What is Apple going to offer on top of everything I already have an enjoy that will make me want to pay even more?

lkrupp 19 Years · 10521 comments

tyler82 said:

I feel like Apple is so late into the streaming game that I have no more budget to pay for yet another service. Right now I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and HBO Now. It covers almost any TV show and movie I would ever want to watch, on demand. What is Apple going to offer on top of everything I already have an enjoy that will make me want to pay even more?

So without even seeing what is offered you declare it DOA. What if it offers something you find compelling enough to get rid of one of your current subscriptions and replace it with what Apple has? I canceled both Netflix and Hulu a couple of months ago because I felt I wasn’t getting enough value for the price. Amazon Prime is no godsend either but I keep it for shopping. I subscribe to CBS All Access so I can watch the new Star Trek: Discovery series. Maybe Apple’s service will offer me the value I want for the price.

sflocal 16 Years · 6138 comments

lkrupp said:

tyler82 said:

I feel like Apple is so late into the streaming game that I have no more budget to pay for yet another service. Right now I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and HBO Now. It covers almost any TV show and movie I would ever want to watch, on demand. What is Apple going to offer on top of everything I already have an enjoy that will make me want to pay even more?

So without even seeing what is offered you declare it DOA. What if it offers something you find compelling enough to get rid of one of your current subscriptions and replace it with what Apple has? I canceled both Netflix and Hulu a couple of months ago because I felt I wasn’t getting enough value for the price. Amazon Prime is no godsend either but I keep it for shopping. I subscribe to CBS All Access so I can watch the new Star Trek: Discovery series. Maybe Apple’s service will offer me the value I want for the price.

Yeah... I was thinking the same thing. People assume, yet never seem to have the patience to wait until the facts are out before coming to a decision.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Apple does. In an ideal world, Apple make all the 3rd party services happy to participate, and I just deal with one bill instead of the multitude I pay for all the different streaming services.

stimpy 8 Years · 18 comments

meh

shewy 14 Years · 9 comments

I'm not even sure how this would work - buying one service through another. Hulu and Netflix seem well established enough to stand on their own without being part of an Apple streaming platform. I watch Netflix, Prime and Hulu on my AppleTV, so the Apple offering will probably simply slot in next to those. The key will be content - any platform without compelling content will fail. This would be like Apple offering Samsung phones and a Dell laptops in their stores - unless there are serious pricing advantages to the consumer, I don't see the point.