Hulu Signs 21st Century Fox, Disney for Live Streaming OTT

SANTA MONICA: Hulu has secured new affiliate agreements with 21st Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company, bringing channels such as ABC, ESPN, Freeform and Disney Channel to the lineup of programming that will be available to stream live and on-demand through its new TV streaming service, set to launch in early 2017.

The new agreements encompass more than 35 top channels, including broadcast networks FOX and ABC; Fox Sports channels such as Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 and BTN; ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN-SEC and ESPN 3; Fox Regional Sports Networks across many key national markets; Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior; Fox News and Fox Business; Freeform; FX, FXX and FXM; and National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD.

Hulu previously scored an affiliate agreement with Time Warner for live and on-demand streaming of Turner’s suite of popular entertainment, sports, news and kids’ channels, including TNT, TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, truTV, Boomerang and Turner Classic Movies.

“We’re building a service that offers subscribers the most sought-after programming on television—and channels from 21st Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company are essential to that mix,” said Mike Hopkins, the CEO of Hulu. “With these two new deals in place, and additional partners to come, Hulu will soon give TV fans of all ages live and on-demand access to their favorite programs in a whole new, more flexible, highly personalized way.”