It seems on-demand TV is gaining more and more popularity. Adding to the list of fast and growing companies is Hulu. The company just hit 17 million subscribers for its subscription on-demand and live TV packages.
This marks an increase of 40% over the last year and a half. Hulu last revealed SVOD subscriber numbers in May 2016, announcing 12 million customers at the time. On Tuesday, the company announced that its total audience grew to 54 million total unique viewers, up from 47 million in May 2017. The Company’s ad revenue reached $1 billion for the first time in the company’s history, though Hulu still lags behind Netflix by a wide margin. They are about one-third the size of Netflix in the U.S.
In 2017, Hulu “took several major steps to become a 21st century direct-to-consumer media company, evolving into both an aggressive SVOD business and a formidable new live TV provider,” new CEO Randy Freer said. “The year ahead is going to be even bigger, as the company invests more in content—live, library and original—as well as technology and data to make Hulu the leading pay TV choice for consumers.”
Hulu also expanded its on-demand library to an additional 75,000 episodes of television across 1,700 titles. Thaat is more than double the number of episodes available on any other SVOD service including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, according to the company’s internal data and research firm Ampere Analysis. The library now includes all existing episodes of more than 600 series, including This Is Us, Designated Survivor, Atlanta, Futurama, 30 Rock, Black-ish, Lost, How I Met Your Mother, Bob’s Burgers, Will & Grace, Power, Golden Girls, Prison Break, Full House, and Family Matters.
Hulu also bagged 10 Emmy Awards for The Handmaid’s Tale, including the first Best Drama Series Emmy ever won by a streaming service and two Golden Globes, including best drama series.
According to Hulu’s reports, the top three dramas on the service in 2017 were Law & Order: SVU, This Is Us, and The Handmaid’s Tale. The top three comedies were South Park, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers.
