HULU LOOKS TO STRENGTHEN ITS KIDS NETWORK; ENTERS FRESH DEAL WITH DISNEY

Hulu is no stranger when it comes to striking deals with various movie companies, movie producers and film houses too. Today, they are back in the news for something they know how to do best. Having been involved with the likes of Sony, Disney and a handful of others in the past, the video streaming service now looks to strengthen the bond that it holds with Disney. In what is a new deal, Hulu has agreed with Disney to license over 50 movies and 500 minutes of different shows from the latter company’s film network, enabling them to show this content on their service.

Likewise, they have managed to purchase exclusive rights to some movies and shows on the Disney network. Going back to the original deal in details, this new move would see them expand their catalog of kids and children shows. This means that Hulu now has access to contents from Disney Junior, Disney Channel, and Disney XD’s channels. This is not just a move out of the blue as industry experts have pointed to the effect of competition on this video-on-demand service provider. The likes of Amazon and Netflix, who are the main competitors of Hulu in the business, have a wide range of offering for kids. These rivals have long established a steady database for their kid’s section, and it consists of both original and licensed shows. With this new move, more is set to come, and Hulu might be starting to concentrate on the kids and family unit as a whole now.

This is not the first time that Hulu would venture into children television, though, provided that the network already as shows such as Doc McStuffins and BunnyTown listed on its platform. They now have exclusive right to offer other shows such as Undercover, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Gravity Falls and Austin & Ally. Obviously excited by the coming together of both companies to agree on such a deal has this, the Senior Vice President of Content over at Hulu said: “As our biggest content licensing agreement with the Disney brand, this deal further demonstrates our commitment to offering popular, high-quality kids programming on Hulu.” Speaking further on the subject of the deal, Craig Erwich continued that “These new SVOD exclusive Disney titles mark yet another way Hulu is building an irresistible content destination for families.”

It is not news to those that have known Hulu for a while that having made it in the TV industry, they are now heading and tending towards more of shows and movies now than ever. Netflix, though, which comes after Hulu, is seeing its future head in the direction of TV which Hulu so wishes to leave. While both companies would have serious data and analytics guiding their respective decisions, it can be said that Hulu’s plan is still up there on the scale of development. Ever wonder about the last time you had the cause to turn on your TV to watch a movie when you could easily get it by streaming it online or via a platform. This makes it logical that TV shows might not be the future, and children are also a good market to target.

For those that would have loved to see even more movies get added to this platform, Hulu and Disney have let us know that they have more titles coming to the subscription video on demand service in the future. These titles include, but are not limited to, Con Air, Step Up, Gone in 60 Seconds, Pearl Harbor, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, The Mighty Ducks et al. They also have it in mind to bring back some of the oldies (but goodies, might we add) that graced the television set. This category would see you get access to movies such as The Emperor’s New Groove, Muppet Treasure Island, The Princess and The Frog.  With this move, no kid would ever have the excuse of being born too late for Disney movies, and the adults can relish the old moments and scenes from these evergreen blockbuster movies again.

The deal is being run on a multi-year level, and hopefully, we expect some clause to be in there for Hulu to be able to add new Disney movies to their already existent catalog. For now, if you would like to watch a Disney movie (the best of the best there is, at least), head over to Hulu.