Cablevision launches Hulu integration into its set-top boxes

Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) is now officially the first MSO to integrate Hulu into its set-tops as a native channel.

Optimum TV users who also subscribe to Hulu can access the SVOD service on channel 605 of their program guide. 

This kind of integration has become commonplace in the pay-TV industry in regard to SVOD leader Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). But this is the first time it's been done with Hulu.

"As Hulu's first cable distribution partner, Optimum is pleased to also be the first provider to offer the unique ability to access Hulu directly from the program guide," said Tom Montemagno, Cablevision's executive VP of programming. 

Will this lead to a wave of further integration of Hulu into pay-TV set-tops? Tough to say. But the Cablevision integration plan was announced nearly a year ago (late-April of last year), and it has not led to a wave of similar announcements.

Notably, Cablevision's Hulu integration is supported by cloud-video technology from ActiveVideo, which is now partly owned by Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) and provides the backbone to that MSO's Spectrum Guide user interface.  

For more:
- read this Cablevision press release

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