Hulu Steps Up Its Fight Against Netflix

Hulu is catering to the wishes of traditional television giants -- and securing deals with some high-profile content producers.

AMC Networks, Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting, 21st Century Fox’s FX Networks and Discovery Communications are among the companies that have struck big content-licensing deals with Hulu in recent months. Those deals include Turner moving its show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” to Hulu from Netflix, and Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch” doing the same.

Of course, Hulu’s friendliness with the TV industry isn’t surprising. It is a joint venture of 21st Century Fox, Comcast’s NBCUniversal, and Walt Disney. It was launched more than seven years ago as a free, advertising-supported home for broadcast television shows that could fight back against the threat of online piracy. (21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal owner News Corp were part of the same company until mid-2013.) Hulu’s relationship with its parents has run hot and cold, and the service has twice been on the auction block. But in the past couple of years, with the help of a $750 million cash infusion from its owners intended to help it take on the Netflix juggernaut, the service has significantly shifted strategy toward building out its $7.99-a-month subscription service.