Hulu UK gearing up for September launch

Posted by Al Warmington on Thu 21 May 2009

The battle for on-demand video is about to get serious

Hulu has already been tipped for an upcoming UK launch and now it looks like the deal is coming to a close. According to the Telegraph, senior sources close to the negotiations have revealed that Hulu is keen to sign a deal with ITV and Channel 4 in the next few weeks, making ready for a launch in September.

Hulu’s assault on the on-demand video market hasn’t gone unnoticed – YouTube is reportedly wooing the same ITV and Channel 4 providers, as well as Sony Pictures, in order to bring full length TV shows to its sharing site.

Hulu’s ace in the hole is that it’ll also be bringing a ton of US content with it. Some 3,000 hours of American TV shows will, according to the same sources, flesh out its offering while it looks for more British content to bring on board. Here’s hoping that once it secures those deals, it doesn’t axe the US content completely – we’re fed up with waiting weeks for UK channels to license the decent US shows, if they even do at all.

At the moment, the only stumbling block is a disagreement over advertising sales. Hulu apparently wants to retain control over the ads, but that’s not how ITV and Channel 4 roll. Once that kink has been ironed out, Hulu UK should be on its way. No doubt YouTube’s renewed interest in the UK TV market will give the two channels a stronger negotiating position.

In related news, mobile network Orange was reportedly in talks to rescue the disallowed Project Kangaroo service. Now it has walked away admidst rumours that the price was too high.

Link: Hulu (via The Telegraph)

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