AT&T Will Begin Offering Hulu To Its Customers Later This Year

Hulu and AT&T announced an expanded deal today designed to bring the video streaming service to AT&T’s customers on both mobile devices and on the web. Starting later this year, customers will be able to access Hulu shows through an AT&T app on their mobile phones, as well as through an AT&T website for Internet viewing, the companies said. The two are also exploring the possibility of bringing a Hulu app to TVs.

The two companies already had a contract focused on distributing Hulu’s free content, but this deal is specifically aimed at expanding access to Hulu’s premium tier. Subscribers paying a $7.99 per month fee are able to tap into Hulu’s larger library, including current seasons of shows from five of the six top broadcast networks, as well as popular older programming. For example, Hulu recently acquired the exclusive rights to stream all the episodes of Seinfeld on its network, which was a notable win for the service.

The deal follows Hulu’s recent moves to line up more distributors for its video streaming service, which began in late April with news that Cablevision would become the first pay TV provider to resell Hulu.

The Cablevision agreement was then quickly followed by the news that Hulu had lined up five other multichannel video programming distributors to offer Hulu, including Armstrong, Atlantic Broadband, Mediacom Communications, Midcontinent Communications and WideOpenWest (WOW!). Similarly, these companies also plan to deliver Hulu’s library to their TV and broadband customers by way of an updated set-top box.

AT&T is also investing in other over-the-top (OTT) initiatives, the company noted in an announcement today, including its joint venture with The Chernin Group, Otter Media, which is designed to invest in, acquire and launch OTT video services. This previously led to AT&T’s and Chernin’s investment to buy a majority stake in Fullscreen, valued between $200-$300 million.

Developing… 

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