Netflix might still be alive and
dominating, but there is no denying that the online digital streaming market
and user-base has its eye on Disney+, the upstart new service that is offering
the best content from decades of history not only from the House of Mouse
itself but its various media subsidiaries such as Lucasfilm and Marvel. But in
its intent to remain truly family-friendly, Disney+ is skipping out on certain
content that therefore goes somewhere else. That would be Hulu, the once-joint
venture streaming platform by Disney, NBC Universal and News Corporation, but
now majority Disney-owned. The problem is Hulu serves only the US.
But for many binge-watchers
outside America and around the world who are curious as to what can be viewed
streaming on Hulu, there might be good news in the horizon. The Verge tells us that there is now a concrete
goal to expand the reach of Hulu to the global binge-watching community, even
if it was not able to go at full steam due to parent company Disney
prioritizing the launch and establishment of presence for its namesake platform
Disney+. But even then, Hulu could be an international streaming service as
early as in 2021.
Disney CEO Bob Iger explains the
delay as necessary to iron out and finalize all deals and agreements regarding
licensing for as much of the available digital content on Hulu as to make it
marketable for subscription outside the US. He also said that the year 2021 is
not the final fixed timeframe for international Hulu. There is also the matter
of some new regulations being enacted by the European Union that could add more
content matching considerations at least in that corner of the world. The
imposition that all non-EU streaming services must provide 30% European-produced
content on their online libraries to be allowed to operate within the EU has
not been positively received.
In recent developments on Hulu,
its CEO Randy Freer has announced his departure from the post even as Disney
has reorganized the platform’s place in its media umbrella, wherein the Hulu leadership
will now be under the purview of the Disney direct-to-consumer division. This
is however considered a key step towards accelerating the spread of Hulu
worldwide. As for Disney+, the next major market to have it available will be
India, this coming March 29.
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