Content partners
Following the start of its service, Hulu signed deals with several new content providers making additional material available to consumers. At launch, Hulu streamed movies and shows from co-owners News Corporation and NBCUniversal, as well as from Sony Pictures, MGM, Warner Bros., and Lionsgate. On April 30, 2009, the Walt Disney Company announced that it would join the venture, purchasing a 27% stake in Hulu.
On June 1, 2011, Hulu announced a deal to add hundreds of films from Miramax to the service.
Starting August 15, 2011, viewers of content from Fox and related networks are required to authenticate paid cable or satellite service wherever Fox streams episodes, including on Hulu, to be able to watch them the morning after the first airing. Non-subscribers will see those episodes delayed a week before they are viewable.
On October 28, 2011, Hulu announced that they had signed a five-year deal with The CW, giving the streaming site access to next-day content from five of the six major networks. On September 18, 2013, Hulu announced a multi-year deal with the BBC that would deliver 2,000 episodes from 144 different titles in the first 12 months.
In 2015, Hulu began offering content from Showtime for an additional $8.99/month, which is cheaper than Showtime's own streaming service. On June 16, 2016, Hulu announced a deal with the Disney-ABC Television Group for the exclusive SVOD rights to past seasons of seven Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD series, and more than 20 Disney Channel original movies.
The CW's agreement with Hulu ended September 18, 2016; in-season streaming of current CW programs moved to the network's own digital platforms, and Netflix began to carry past seasons of The CW's programs through 2019. As of January 2017, a limited amount of content from CBS's library is available on-demand, mostly limited to shows that are no longer producing new episodes. A deal was reached to bring live broadcasts of CBS and several affiliated channels to Hulu's upcoming live streaming service as well as to make more shows available on-demand.
In April 2018, Hulu announced a partnership with Spotify that allows users to purchase both streaming services for a discounted price per month. This discount also includes an even larger discounted rate for university students.
Hulu distributes video on its own website and syndicates its hosting to other sites, and allows users to embed Hulu clips on their websites. In addition to NBC, ABC and Fox programs and movies, Hulu carries shows from networks: A&E, Big Ten Network, Bravo, E!, Fox Sports 2, FX, PBS, NFL Network, Oxygen, RT America, Fox Sports 1, Sundance TV, Syfy, USA Network, NBCSN, and online comedy sources such as Onion News Network. Hulu retains between thirty and fifty percent of advertising revenue generated by the shows it distributes.
In November 2009, Hulu also began to establish partnerships with record labels to host music videos and concert performances on the site, including EMI in November 2009, and Warner Music Group in December 2009.
In early March 2010, Viacom announced that it was pulling two of the website's most popular shows, The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, off Hulu. The programs had been airing on Hulu since late 2008. A spokesman for Viacom noted that "in the current economic model, there is not that much in it for us to continue at this time. If they can get to the point where the monetization model is better, then we may go back." In February 2011, both shows were made available for streaming on Hulu again. The Daily Show was again removed from Hulu in March 2017 in order to push viewers to watch the program on Viacom and Comedy Central's apps.
In 2012, Viz Media, Aniplex of America, and other distributors teamed up to create Neon Alley. It had launched on October 2, 2012, as a 24/7 web channel, but in 2014 it had switched to Hulu-only. The site contained exclusive dub premieres with anime such as Accel World, Blue Exorcist, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Fate/Zero and the uncut version of Sailor Moon. It also had shows such as Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden, Death Note, Inuyasha, Bakuman, Ranma ½, One Piece, One-Punch Man, and Bleach. It went defunct on May 4, 2016. However, Hulu still hosts over 300 anime from Funimation, Aniplex of America, Viz Media, and Sentai Filmworks, and selected anime began resume to release on Hulu following the deal between Disney and Sony Pictures since 2021.
In April 2017, Hulu signed a first-run license deal with Annapurna Pictures. Hulu also has output deals with IFC Films and Magnolia Pictures.
Hulu in May 2018 announced its first-ever license deal with DreamWorks Animation, becoming the exclusive streaming home for future DWA movies feature films, as well as library films. DWA had streamed exclusively through Netflix since 2013. Films will be available on the service in 2019, while original series will be available later in 2020.
In October 2018, PocketWatch launched 90 22-minute episodes of repackaged content from their YouTube creator partners on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video and partnered with Paramount Pictures to license them to international distributors.
On December 4, 2018, Hulu confirmed an exclusive multi-year first-look SVOD deal with Funimation, and the deal was later folded into Disney-Sony deal on April 21, 2021.
In June 2019, Hulu and FX signed an output deal with Lionsgate, where Hulu and FX would respectably gain the streaming and television rights to films released under the Lionsgate label in 2020 and 2021.
In August 2019, Hulu agreed to control the streaming rights films released by Bleecker Street.
On March 2, 2020, Hulu launched a dedicated "hub" for content from FX branded as "FX on Hulu", with the service becoming the exclusive streaming outlet for current and past series from the network. Beginning with Breeders, new episodes of FX original series also become available on Hulu immediately after their television airing, and selected series will also premiere exclusively on the service.
On January 14, 2021, it was announced that following an exclusive 3-week IMAX engagement, Searchlight's Nomadland would be released on Hulu alongside a regular limited theatrical and drive-in run in the United States on February 19.
On April 21, 2021, Disney reached a deal for television and streaming rights to Sony Pictures films from 2022 through 2026, which includes library rights for some of its franchises like Spider-Man, Jumanji and Hotel Transylvania franchises, etc., and licensing anime under Funimation and Crunchyroll brands and anime released by Aniplex of America, and post-pay-one window rights to new releases (after their exclusivity period with Netflix expires). This deal covers Disney+, Hulu, and Disney's television channels. On May 17, 2021, it started Onyx Collective which is a content brand for creators.
On August 31, 2021, Disney announced that it would fold the American version of Hotstar—a niche streaming service targeting Indian Americans—In late 2022, with its original entertainment content migrating to Hulu.
In October 2025, Hulu acquired the rights to the Spanish thriller Innate, originally developed by Netflix Spain.
