Roots, War and Peace Set to Stream on Hulu

SANTA MONICA: Hulu has acquired the exclusive subscription streaming rights for the event series Roots from A+E Networks, which also licensed the U.S. SVOD rights for War and Peace and Barbarians Rising to the service.

Roots debuted on linear TV as a four-night event, which was watched by 14.4 million total viewers over the course of the premiere week. All episodes of the eight-hour event series, developed for HISTORY by A+E Studios, will become available to stream exclusively to Hulu subscribers this fall.

Additionally, Barbarians Rising, which premiered on HISTORY on June 6, will become available to stream exclusively on Hulu beginning in 2017 through the new deal with A+E Networks. The agreement between the two companies also includes the exclusive SVOD acquisition of Lifetime’s War and Peace, which will become available to stream on Hulu this summer.

“We’re so proud to welcome such a culturally important and highly-rated series as Roots to Hulu,” said Craig Erwich, the senior VP and head of content at Hulu. “With acclaimed titles like War and Peace and Barbarians Rising, our expanded deal with A+E Networks furthers our strategy of offering the very best in premium, exclusive television to Hulu subscribers.”

“A+E Networks is thrilled to partner with Hulu to offer their subscribers such a strong slate of programming,” said Sean Cohan, the president of international and digital media at A+E Networks. “Hulu continues to thrive and innovate in the SVOD marketplace and is the perfect platform to showcase A+E’s premium video content.”