Hulu

Hulu (, HOO-loo) is an American subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It is one of the most-subscribed video on demand streaming media services, with 55.5 million paid memberships. Its headquarters are located in Los Angeles, California, with offices in Santa Monica, California (the former West Coast bureau for HBO), New York City, and Seattle, Washington. Hulu was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBC Universal; Providence Equity Disney, and Time Warner later made investments in the service. Hulu originally served as an aggregator, streaming recent episodes of programs from the companies' television networks (including ABC, NBC, and Fox). In 2010, Hulu launched a subscription service, initially branded as "Hulu Plus," which featured full seasons of programs from the companies and other partners, and access to new episodes immediately after their airing. In 2016, Hulu syndicated its free library to Yahoo in order to focus exclusively on Hulu Plus. In 2017, the company launched "Hulu + Live TV"—a superset of Hulu Plus also offering access to broadcast and cable television channels. In 2019, Disney acquired a majority stake in Hulu as part of its acquisition of News Corporation successor 21st Century Fox, and subsequently acquired the remaining stakes held by AT&T and Comcast in 2019 and 2023, respectively, giving it full ownership. Following the acquisition, Disney began to establish synergies between Hulu and its sister service Disney+, including integrating a Hulu content hub into the Disney+ library for users subscribed to both services. In 2025, Disney announced plans to eventually discontinue Hulu's existing apps in favor of a shared platform shared with Disney+, although they will remain separate subscriptions. Aside from a Japanese version of the service launched in 2011 (which would be acquired by Nippon Television in 2014), Hulu did not pursue a wider international expansion until 2025, when Disney announced that Hulu would replace its Star brand for general entertainment content on Disney+ outside of the United States. In January 2025, Disney announced its intent to acquire a 70% majority stake in competing streaming television service FuboTV. The sale is expected to be completed by late-2025 or early-2026; the merged business will consist of the FuboTV and the Hulu + Live TV businesses, and will remain led by Fubo CEO David Gandler. The Hulu streaming service itself will remain solely owned by Disney.

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