Hulu has been shoring up its content collection this week in an effort to help it compete with streaming rivals Netflix and Amazon. The streaming service has forged two major deals that will bring several series from the MGM vault on board, as well as adding several FX originals, including the smash hit of the year for the network, Fargo.
In what Hulu Senior VP and Head of Content Craig Erwhich called a “landmark deal,” Hulu signed a multi-year agreement with 20th Century Fox that will add several new shows from FX and its cruder cousin FXX, including Tyrant, The Strain, Married, and You’re the Worst.
The full first season of the FX originals, including Fargo, will become available for subscribers “in advance of their second season premieres in 2015,” an ambiguous date that basically means not quite yet. All subsequent seasons of the shows will also become available exclusively to Hulu subscribers under the deal, with the possible exclusion of Fargo’s second season, which wasn’t mentioned in the release.
The deal will also bring new shows airing on FX to Hulu including a new comedy starring Billy Crystal and John Gad called The Comedians, a new series starring Zack Galifinakis and produced by Louis CK called Baskets, and a period drama produced by Ridley Scott called Taboo.
In acquiring FX’s critical darling Fargo, which garnered 18 Emmy nominations this year and a win for best miniseries, Hulu also “expanded its relationship” with the studio responsible for the series, MGM. The MGM deal also locks down a barrel of other MGM shows including The History Channel’s Vikings, and “thousands of episodes of classic MGM series” including the Stargate series (Stargate Universe, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate: SG-1), a heap of retro programming like Flipper, Green Acres and Addams Family, as well as Dead Like Me, Outer Limits, and even Thirtysomething — now there’s a slice of the 90s we thought we’d never see again.
While not all of Hulu’s new shows belong in the TV hall of fame, the service scored some real wins this week that should give it some extra ammo in the streaming service war. With Netflix and Amazon both moving into 4K streaming, as well as offering commercial-free programming, Hulu will need all the help it can get.
