Hulu Tops 17 Million Subscribers

Hulu has closed its fiscal year 2017 with more than 17 million total subscribers across its SVOD and live TV plans in the U.S., a gain of more than 40 percent from the company’s last reported total in 2016.

Hulu’s total audience grew to 54 million total unique viewers, the company said. It expanded its on-demand library in 2017 to more than 75,000 episodes of TV series across 1,700 titles, which is more than twice the number of episodes available on any of the other leading streaming services. In 2017, Hulu’s advertising revenue reached $1 billion for the first time in the company’s history.

“2017 was a momentous year for Hulu,” said CEO Randy Freer. “We took several major steps to become a 21st-century direct-to-consumer media company, evolving into both an aggressive SVOD business and a formidable new live TV provider. The year ahead is going to be even bigger, as the company invests more in content—live, library and original—as well as technology and data to make Hulu the leading pay-TV choice for consumers.”

The top three dramas on Hulu in 2017, based on hours watched, were Law & Order: SVU, This Is Us and The Handmaid’s Tale. The top three comedies on Hulu in 2017, based on hours watched, were South Park, Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers. Notably, Seinfeld also cracked the top 10, as Hulu viewers watched more than 65 million hours of the classic comedy in 2017.