Hulu, NBCUniversal Reach Licensing Deal

(Updated) Hulu will add past seasons of NBCUniversal-produced shows as part of a multi-year agreement between the two companies announced Wednesday.

As part of the deal, Hulu will add such NBCU-produced shows such as Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project, as well as Braov's Top Chef and E!'s Keeping Up With The Kardashians to its lineup of original programs, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins said in a company blog. The deal was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Hulu, which is owned by Comcast Cable, Walt Disney Co. and 21st Century Fox, currently airs in-season episodes of such hit shows as ABC’s Scandal days after they air on the network as part of its $7.99 Hulu Plus service, but has not been as aggressive in securing past seasons of cable and broadcast shows as its OTT competitors Amazon, Crackle and Netflix. Such content has helped the OTT services generate subscriptions as viewers binge view through older seasons of high-profile series.

The announcement comes days after Hulu named former Warner Horizon Television programming executive Craig Erwich to head up its content division.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.