Hulu is raising its profile. That was the message at yesterday’s Newfront, where the online video service announced two big new deals­exclusive SVOD rights to all 180 Seinfeld episodes (for a total value that may be as high as $180 million) and a multiyear agreement for all new and upcoming AMC Networks primetime scripted series on AMC, IFC, BBC America, SundanceTV and WE tv. Beginning in June, every episode of Seinfeld will be available for Hulu subscribers to stream via a deal with Sony Pictures Television. The AMC arrangement brings series including Walking Dead companion Fear The Walking Dead to Hulu. The company also touted its new pact with Cablevision, which we reported yesterday.
What you need to know:
* Within the first 90 days of 2015, total streams have increased by 77 percent and viewers have streamed more than 700 million hours of premium content on Hulu. On average, each Hulu viewer is watching at least 30 percent more content.
* For advertisers, Hulu introduced the custom integrated commercial: 30-second spots that assimilate the values of a marketer’s brand with the values of Hulu for a shared brand story. The company also will roll out programmatic ad buying during the next several years.
* The company is expanding its slate of originals for 2015-16, including: James Franco-starring 11/22/63, a J.J. Abrams nine-hour limited event series based on the 2011 Stephen King novel about a high school history teacher who travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; NY comedy Difficult People, co-exec produced by Amy Poehler and starring Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner; dysfunctional family sendup Casual; The Way, about a family at the center of a controversial faith–based movement; and comedy RocketJump: The Show, where YT personality Freddie Wong chronicles the filmmaking behind RocketJump’s newest short.