Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins confirmed that his company’s live TV service will arrive in the next few months and will be priced at under $40, which he deemed necessary in order to be competitive.
Though Hopkins didn’t name a specific cost for the service, he did say that it will include the typical $8 subscriptions on-demand package available from Hulu.
Speaking today at the Citi Internet, Media and Telecommunications Conference, Hopkins also confirmed previous reports that CBS had signed up for the service and that Hulu’s live TV will feature cloud DVR service at launch.
The addition of a cloud DVR gives Hulu’s live DVR service an advantage over competitors like DirecTV Now, which does not feature DVR functionality. DirecTV Now also has yet to reach a distribution deal with CBS.
With the CBS deal done, Hulu only needs to reach a deal with NBCUniversal—a part-owner of Hulu—in order to have all four of the major broadcasters on board. Hopkins didn’t comment specifically on when an NBC deal might be done but said that Hulu has a good relationship with NBC and is in active discussions with the broadcasters.
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In addition to its deal with the major broadcasters, Hulu is also pursuing deals with those networks’ affiliates.
“Local TV is extremely important and we’ll have a lot of affiliates at launch, but not all of them,” Hopkins said.
In terms of features coming to Hulu’s broader product portfolio, the conversation turned to downloads for offline viewing.
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Hopkins said that downloadable content is coming from Hulu in the next few months. Those comments align with comments made by Hulu Senior VP and Head of Experience Ben Smith in November.