For all the conflict whether the owners should sell off Hulu, the decision to keep onto their prized digital streaming distribution platform appears to have paid off. In 2013, Hulu can count 5 million paying subscribers and $1 bullion dollars in revenue. Yes Austin Powers, I said $1 billion dollars! Not bad for a business that is only five years old.
Hopefully the owners have now decided that they can indeed work together and build a common strategy in what is shaping as a very competitive streaming entertainment landscape. Certainly, Hulu is not the leader in the category. Netflix is twice the size and although it doesn't have the ad stream that Hulu does, it subscription revenue is almost four times higher. And Amazon Prime, which operates its streaming business inside its mega retail environment, is equally as powerful. For these and others in the space, it is still a very nascent business. The growth potential remains enormous.
With Christmas around the corner, more and more consumers will be buying their gaming platforms, tablets, Roku and TiVo and Apple TV boxes, and they will all be looking for content to power these devices. Streaming and downloads will continue to grow and the broadband infrastructure will have to figure out how to accommodate all this traffic. And Hulu, Netflix, and others can continue to ride the growth curve. So kudos Hulu owners for staying with the platform and not selling out; you have hit one milestone and, with a strong strategic plan, on the right path to future success.
