Hulu

Hulu (/ˈhuːluː/) is an American subscription video on demand service fully controlled and majority owned by Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International, a division of The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal as an equity stakeholder.

The service was initially established as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBC Universal, Providence Equity Partners, and later Disney, serving as an aggregation of recent episodes of television series from their respective television networks. 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 undelayed access to new episodes. In 2017, the company launched Hulu with Live TV—an over-the-top IPTV service featuring linear television channels. Time Warner later held a stake in the service. As of the first quarter of 2019, Hulu had 28 million subscribers.

In March 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, giving it a 60% majority stake in Hulu. AT&T (which acquired Time Warner in 2018) sold back its roughly 10% stake the following month. Comcast, the only other shareholder in Hulu, announced on May 14, 2019, that it had agreed to cede its control of Hulu to Disney, and reached an agreement for Disney to purchase its 33% stake in the company as early as 2024. Hulu will be operated as a bridge brand alongside Disney's fellow OTT ventures Disney+ and ESPN+, with Hulu positioned as its streaming brand for general entertainment outside of Disney's family-oriented studios and properties.