Hulu: Americans Turned to Comedy in 2017

In reflecting on what U.S. viewers were streaming in 2017, Hulu has found that viewers watched 36 percent more comedy movies than they did in 2016, as well as more comedic TV shows.

Americans watched more comedy TV shows this year compared to last. This included It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (up by 20 percent), The Goldbergs (20 percent), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (29 percent), Parks and Recreation (32 percent) and black-ish (104 percent).

Hulu also revealed that when it comes to how Americans watch content, they want both live and on-demand. Of the Hulu viewers with a live-TV plan, about half (47 percent) watched both live TV and on-demand content each day, with 57 percent of those hours consumed by live content and 43 percent consumed by SVOD content. When viewers can get live and on-demand all in one place, overall hours watched increases across all content by more than 100 percent.

In 2017, living room devices were the most popular way of streaming TV content—the same as the year before. Viewers also don’t like to watch alone: 59 percent watch with a partner or spouse, 31 percent with children and another 30 percent with friends or other family members.

Americans streamed more than 107 million hours of South Park on Hulu in 2017. Family Guy, Law & Order: SVU, Bob’s Burgers and Rick and Morty were also popular titles in 2017. The Handmaid’s Tale, however, was the number one viewed Hulu original; and 66 percent of each new episode viewing occurred within the first three days of availability for the hit drama.