Hulu inks expansive licensing agreement with Disney-ABC Television Group
Hulu is ramping up its slate of kids programming with a multinetwork licensing agreement with the Disney-ABC Television Group.
The expansive deal, which was announced Thursday, would bring over 500 episodes and a selection of original movies from Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD to Hulu. It stands as Hulu’s biggest content licensing agreement with the Disney brand.
The news comes months after Hulu’s deal for all episodes of NBCUniversal’s “Curious George.” It highlights the importance services like Hulu, Netflix and Amazon place on children’s programming in an era when young viewers are increasingly glued to electronic tablets and their parents’ cellphones.
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The agreement would make Hulu the exclusive subscription video-on-demand home to seven programs, including past season episodes of Disney Channel’s spy comedy “K.C. Undercover,” Disney XD’s “Gravity Falls” and “Star vs. The Forces of Evil,” and former Disney Channel series “Dog With a Blog” and “Austin & Ally.”
The pact also includes exclusive subscription streaming rights to a number of programs from Disney Junior, including “Sheriff Callie’s Wild West” and “Henry Hugglemonster.”
Previous seasons of the series will be available for streaming on Hulu later this month. Subsequent seasons will be added to the Santa Monica-based service in their entirety after the last episode of each season airs.
“These new SVOD exclusive Disney titles mark yet another way Hulu is building an irresistible content destination for families,” said Hulu’s head of content, Craig Erwich.
The deal builds on Hulu’s relationship with Disney. The streaming service last year acquired exclusive subscription video-on-demand rights to Disney Junior’s acclaimed animated series “Doc McStuffins” and “Bunnytown.”
The new deal also includes more than 20 Disney Channel original movies.
Hulu is a joint venture of major TV network owners 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney Co. and Comcast‘s NBCUniversal.
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Twitter: @villarrealy
UPDATES:
1:43 p.m.: This article has been updated with additional details.
This article was originally published at 11 a.m.
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