As spring finales queue up, viewers can look to Hulu for original, exclusive content from overseas
Just as most shows have wrapped up their season, many are cruising to see what series' they can look forward to watching next. Hulu just announced a new slate of original and exclusive programming from its online service which includes a movie review show called Spoilers, hosted by director Kevin Smith (from Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Clerks.)
Since Hulu's main service is to provide Internet users with television content, often the day after the program airs, the service has been competeing with torrent sites, YouTube, the cable services, and other sites but has been able to successfully monetize it Hulu Plus offering, especially since Hulu is a group owned and run by several of the big media groups: NBCUniversal, News Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, and Providence Equity Partners.
Back in January, Hulu hit the 1.5 million paying customers mark.
That's a 5X growth rate from the 300,000 paying subscriber base signed up to Hulu Plus at the end of 2010. Hulu Plus offers more shows, movies, ad-free viewing and access to full series' rather than selected episodes.
Executives explained that the company grew 60% from 2010 to approximately $420 million in revenue for a service that allows users to watch Hulu content on their computers, TV, gaming devices, tablets and smart phones.
Netflix still holds the lion's share of online television and movie watching for the same $7.99 rate of unlimited streaming on multiple devices, even after loosing nearly a million subscribers due to rate hikes and missteps. Netflix still clocks in at close to 23.8 million subscribers.
Hulu has been following the lead of other online video content providers by creating original content and gaining exclusive rights to shows like Tracy Ullman's 'State of the Union' and a Web series called 'The Booth at the End.' The move for exclusivity and production of original content has also been made by Netflix and YouTube to have unique reasons why people should come to their site as opposed to others.
YouTube has spent $100 million to create channels with orignal content while Netflix has announced the launch of two original premium series' and Yahoo has signed a deal for a animated Web series with Tom Hanks.
Hulu Plus is attracting twice the number of subscribers each day compared to the same time last year with double the content available for viewing.
Hulu's summer lineup offers new TV shows ranging from comedy and sci-fi to travel and reality.
What the service has been doing the last few years, is offer more original content to create a base of users that can only get certain shows from its site.
The new, exclusive content slates to roll out starting next month includes:
- Rev. This sitcom follows the Rev. Adam Smallbone, who moved from a sleepy, rural parish to the busy, inner-city world of St. Saviour’s in East London. Originally broadcast on BBC Two in the U.K., the show has received widespread critical acclaim, winning the 2011 BAFTA's "Best Sitcom," and nominated for the 2012 BAFTA's "Best Sitcom," and Hollander receiving a nod for "Best Male Performance in a Comedy Program." The series premieres June 3rd from BBC Worldwide Americas Digital Distribution.
- Spoilers: This multi-act film extravaganza mixes lively group chats, interviews with movie and pop culture icons and animated shorts. Each week, Kevin, special guests and movie lovers passionately sound off on the year's most anticipated summer blockbusters, gushing over their favorite scenes and debating the details frame by frame. The series, produced by SModCo, premieres on June 4th on Hulu and Hulu Plus at www.hulu.com/spoilers . Ten (10) episodes.
- The Yard: A mockumentary miniseries that juxtaposes two rival cliques of elementary school children premieres June 7. The cast and crew have respectively been nominated for the 2012 Young Artist Award and the 2011 Directors Guild of Canada Award.
- Derren Brown: Inside Your Mind: Follows Derren Brown, a performer who uses psychology, magic, showmanship and suggestion to mess with people. This also is a Brtitish show brought over to the US via Hulu. The series premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus on July 7th.
- Up to Speed: Created by filmmaker Richard Linklater (Bernie, School of Rock, Dazed and Confused), this travel series follows a tour guide/historian Timothy "Speed" Levitch as he visits the monumentally-ignored monuments of America's cities, from the shoe gardens of San Francisco to the luckiest subway grate in New York City. The series in August.
- The Booth at the End: This show is actually a second season renew about a character that posts up in a little diner (at the booth on the end) and offers people a chance to get something they want most in the world, but at a very steep price. The show is quite captivating and has a very strong rotating cast that is interconnected through several twists and turns in the narrative.
- Pramface: Follows the lives of Jamie and Laura, two young, free and single teenagers who hook up at a party and end up getting Laura pregnant. So even though they barely know each other, they now have one thing in common -- and it's getting bigger. "Pramface" brings humor and heart to a tricky subject, following these two unexpected parents-to-be as they try, and frequently fail, to negotiate family, sex and what happens once nine months is up. The series premieres July 19th from BBC Worldwide Americas Digital Distribution.
- The Promise: A four-part political thriller and love story that examines the origins of the Middle East conflict in events that took place under British rule sixty years ago. The BAFTA-nominated series cuts between the life of Erin, an 18-year old Londoner in present day Israel and Gaza, and that of her military grandfather who was part of the British peace-keeping force in Palestine at the end of the second World War. The series premieres August 11th.
- Little Mosque: This light-hearted, comedic fish-out-of-water tale about a small Muslim community that rents the parish hall of a small town church to use as a mosque. The multi award-winning, half-hour series features a cast of both Muslims and non-Muslims in storylines that the New York Times says "explore the funny side of an often misunderstood life." "Little Mosque" has received awards from around the world including the prestigious "Search for Common Ground Award" for promoting cross-cultural understanding. It has been lauded for its frank and authentic portrayal of real issues within the Muslim community as well as its delicate balance of the irreverent with the reverent.
- We Got Next: This is an edgy male comedy co-created by Kenya Barris (co-creator of America's Next Top Model) and Hale Rothstein (writer, producer of The Game) is a raunchy, sarcastic and out-of-bounds half-hour show about a pick-up basketball team of four guys who should never have been friends in the first place. The series premieres in August .
Steven Loeb
