Digital TV News

Hulu drops plans to launch UK online TV service

Wednesday 5 May, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Plans to launch a British version of online TV on-demand service Hulu have been shelved after talks with UK broadcasters collapsed.

Hulu, which is co-owned by Disney, News Corporation and NBC Universal, is a popular, free online TV service in the US and has been trying to break into the UK market since February 2009.

It was originally poised to launch in the UK in September last year, but plans were put on hold because British broadcasters, including ITV, Channel 4 and Five, were reluctant to sign-up to the platform.

However, Hulu has now been forced to can its UK plans altogether after negotiations collapsed. A senior TV executive close to the project told the Telegraph: “Hulu has told several people at the British broadcasters that it has been forced to abandon its UK expansion plans after failing to sign any content deals.”

It is believed that ITV was unwilling to sign-up with Hulu, as it wants to concentrate on its own online TV catch-up service, the ITV Player.

Ben McOwen Wilson, ITV’s director of online and interactive, told the Telegraph in March, that while Hulu has been successful in the US, Britain’s TV market is different.

“It [the UK TV market] is much more consolidated, which means there are fewer online locations than in the US, which users need to visit to get access to their favourite content - therefore there is less need for aggregators,” he said.

Hulu’s talks with Channel 4 and Five have also come to a standstill because Hulu wants to sell advertising space around both broadcasters’ content, as it does in the US. However, neither broadcaster is willing to agree a deal, and both have just signed contracts with YouTube and SeeSaw to offer viewers their content online.

Jon Ingram, operations director at Digitalchoices.co.uk, said: “It’s a shame that the plans to launch Hulu have been shelved. The service has been a huge success in the US, airing shows like Family Guy and The Office online for free - this news will be a disappointment to many internet television fans in the UK.”