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State of the Screens

Hulu Grows to 28 Million Subscribers

By May 23, 2019No Comments

The big news #1: Hulu added 3M subscribers during the first part of 2019, bringing their total to 28M.

Hulu subscribers by year (YoY growth):
1) 2017–17M
2) 2018–25M (↑ 48%)
3) 2019–28M+ (↑ 12%+)

The big news #2: Disney is purchasing the remaining 33% of Hulu from Comcast.

Hulu valuation based on Disney purchase price (% change):
1)
AT&T (2018) — $15.0B
2)
Comcast (2024) — $27.5B (↑ 83%)

Key details on Disney purchasing Comcast’s share of Hulu:
1)
The sale will be complete by 2024
2) NBCUniversal content will remain on Hulu for 3 years
3) NBCUniversal content can go on their upcoming streaming service after 1 year

Hulu advertising revenue in U.S. (YoY growth) according to eMarketer:
1) 2016 — $873M (↑ 16%)
2) 2017 — $986M (↑ 13%)
3) 2018 — $1.1B (↑ 16%)
4) 2019P — $1.3B (↑ 15%)
5) 2020P — $1.5B (↑ 13%)

Podcast: Hulu CEO Randy Freer explains why Hulu never promoted its ad-free version

Video: Hulu Rethinks Advertising as Part of Future

More #1: Hulu Needs to Get Bigger, Faster — As The Future of TV Advertising May Be at Stake

More #2: Hulu’s new ad strategy targets all your binge-watching and pausing behavior

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.