Hulu Acquires VOD Rights to 'The Strain', 'Tyrant', More from FX
Hulu is trying to bolster its lineup of video on-demand shows to challenge Netflix. So the VOD streaming service is making a deal with FX.
A multi-year deal with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution has now made Hulu the exclusive home to new and upcoming FX shows produced or co-produced by FX Productions. This means shows such as The Strain, Tyrant, Married and You're the Worst will be available exclusively on Hulu Plus prior to their second season premieres. In addition, Hulu will have the rights to subsequent seasons of each respective series.
However, the deal does not include the critically-acclaimed drama The Americans, which has a home on Amazon; nor does it give them exclusive rights to Netflix mainstays such as Sons of Anarchy and American Horror Story. However, Hulu will get non-exclusive rights to past seasons of both shows, meaning subscribers will now get a taste of how the other half lives on Netflix.
It's being trumpeted as a landmark deal in TV, as Gina Brogi, the Executive VP of Worldwide Pay TV and SVOD at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, puts it.
Borgi claims this deal will "not only expand the audience reach for much of the terrific FX and FXX programming, but does so in a way that represents how traditional TV and emerging platforms, such as Hulu, can work together and leverage their respective strengths, to satisfy the ever changing viewing habits of the audience."
And she's not exactly wrong, per se, as Hulu is now getting in on future shows that could very well be big hits. The deal gives Hulu rights to such future FX series as comedies Man Seeking Woman starring Jay Baruchel, The Comedians starring Billy Crystal and Josh Gad, and Baskets starring Zach Galifianakis and co-produced by Louis C.K. and Galifianakis.
“FX Productions shares the same commitment to creating and distributing distinctive, high quality programming that we do here at Hulu," said Hulu head of content Craig Erwich. "We are thrilled to begin this partnership, which will add a wide variety of popular series, and fresh, yet-to-air series to our ever expanding roster of great content."
In another huge boon, Hulu is also getting exclusive streaming rights to Wayward Pines, the FOX event series from director/executive producer M. Night Shyamalan, starring Matt Dillon, Terrence Howard and Melissa Leo.
Also included in the deal is a co-marketing campaign between Hulu and FX Networks, with FX providing promotion for Hulu across FX, FXX and FXM, while Hulu provides on- and off-site branding for FX Networks.
Personally, I'm not sure how big of a get this is. The Strain is pretty good, but Tyrant wasn't nearly as interesting, and while You're the Worst was an amusingly dark comedy, I'm not sure how many people actually saw it. If anything, the money would appear to be in the cross-branding and rights to past seasons of Sons of Anarchy and American Horror Story, but that's not even an exclusive deal. Of course, this could be a genius move on Hulu's part if the upcoming FX shows they now have rights to end up being hits. I suppose we'll see soon enough.
But what do you think? Is this deal enough to get you to give Hulu a try? Or are you sticking with Netflix and/or Amazon? Or none of the above? Sound off in the comments!
Credit: FX