Hulu has been having a busy week. On Tuesday, the company announced a new deal for advertisers, which now charges them only for ad completions, and today at Hulu’s upfronts, the company announced the arrival of even more original shows.
We already knew of several of the programs Hulu discussed this morning, including “Battleground,” “Up to Speed,” and “A Day in the Life,” for example. But this morning, the company revealed several more additions, including “We Got Next,” “The Awesomes,” “Don’t Quit Your Daydream,” and “Flow.”
That Hulu is growing into original programming has been known for some time. Although a story in this week’s NYT brought new attention to the TV streaming service, Hulu had first announced “Battleground,” a scripted political comedy, back in January, as the first show to kick off its then growing lineup of original series.
Today, Hulu revealed several more additions to that lineup. It’s notable that there are even some bigger name stars participating this time, including SNL’s Seth Meyers and Michael Shoemaker, for example, as well as HBO’s Entourage lead Adrian Grenier.
Descriptions and details below:
- We Got Next (2012): Four unlikely friends butt heads on the pick-up basketball court, learn how to play basketball and on help each other on the sidelines of everyday life. Starring: Kenya Barris (THE GAME, ARE WE THERE YET?, AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL), Hale Rothstein (THE GAME, EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS), Danny Leiner (THE OFFICE, MODERN FAMILY, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, FREAKS AND GEEKS, HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE, DUDE WHERE’S MY CAR?
- The Awesomes (2013): An unassuming superhero and his cohorts battle diabolical villains, the ever-present paparazzi, and a less-than-ideal reputation as second-class crime fighters. Starring: Seth Meyers (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE), Michael Shoemaker (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON) and animation studio Bento Box (BOB’S BURGERS, ALLEN GREGORY).
- Don’t Quit Your Daydream: A cast of famous musicians travel across America in search of could-have-been musical artists to collaborate on a new song giving them a second-chance at stardom. Based on an award-winning documentary by Adrian Grenier and John Loar. Starring: Adrian Grenier; Produced by Virgin
- Flow: When Ed Dante, a hard-working kid from the wrong side of the tracks is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, he begins an epic quest to deliver true justice. To achieve his goal, he must discover the mysteries of an ancient art, uncover hidden worlds and become a hero to a generation. Starring: Michael “Dooma” Wendschuh (show creator, co-founder and president of sekretagent studios: ASSASSIN’S CREED II (2009), ARMY OF TWO (2008), ASSASSIN’S CREED (2007); David Belle (Founder of Parkour); Produced by Agility Studios (producers of The LXD) and the Shine Group (WHO KNEW? IT’S EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS, APPETITE FOR LIFE)
Hulu also revealed many of its numbers to the advertisers in attendance, although much of this has already been reported. The company again noted that it has 2 million paying subscribers and saw $420 million in revenue last year.
There are now over 360 content partners on Hulu and its premium offering, Hulu Plus, and the service offers over 40,000 hours of content. This includes over 50,000 full TV episodes and nearly 1,900 TV series.
The company also said that it has now served over 1,000 brand advertisers to date, and, citing comScore metrics, claimed to be #1 in video ads delivered per month, #2 in content streams, #2 in total content video and #3 in minutes-per-viewers. Excluding ad networks, Hulu says it ranks #9 in unique viewers for total videos. Hulu also said it represented 20% of the online video marketplace, and 40% of the premium video marketplace.
In February, users watched 2.5 billion videos on the service, which Hulu jazzed up by saying that’s like “1,000 videos a second.”
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar had previously said that the company would be spending over $500 million this year on licensing new content and creating original shows, which he felt would be important in order to better compete with service like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple.
Netflix especially has been aggressively growing its library this year with additions which include original shows “Lilyhammer” and “House of Cards,” for example, plus resurrections of fan favorites like “Arrested Development.”