Hulu Reported to Be Planning to Launch its Service in the UK This September

UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, reported Wednesday that Hulu, the broadband video venture co-owned by NBC, Fox, and ABC/Disney (note: for more on Disney's recent acquisition of an equity stake in the venture, see the article posted on itvt.com April 30th), is hoping to launch in the UK in September with terrestrial broadcasters, ITV and Channel 4, as its main in-country content partners. According to what the Telegraph describes as "senior sources" close to Hulu's negotiations with the UK broadcasters, the company hopes to sign a deal with ITV and Channel 4 in the next few weeks, and is also in talks with the BBC. "Hulu is proposing to launch this September with 3,000 hours of American content, as well as material from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4," one of its sources told the newspaper. "It will be playing catch-up in the short-term until it has enough British TV content and will need a unique selling point in the short term." According to The Telegraph, that "selling point" would likely be that Channel 4, ITV and BBC programming would be available on Hulu for 30 days after its linear-TV broadcast.

However, a source described by the Telegraph as a "senior TV advertising executive close to" ITV and Channel 4, told the newspaper that Hulu's negotiations with the two broadcasters are temporarily on hold because of disagreement over how advertising on their programming would be sold on a UK version of Hulu: "Hulu is proposing a model that works in the American marketplace--however, Channel 4 and ITV will not consent to that," the source said. "Both parties always retain the commercial rights and sell their own ad inventory. Hulu executives want a September launch and are running out of time if they continue with this line of negotiation."

That Hulu is planning to launch its service in the UK and other international markets is, of course, no secret. The company recently revealed that it had signed deals with three non-US content providers: Digital Rights Group (which will provide it with a line-up of British comedies, including "Doc Martin," "Green Wing" and "Peep Show"), Endemol (which will provide it with reality series such as "I want to be a Hilton") and Saavn (which will provide it with a range of Bollywood movies); and the company's SVP of content acquisition and distribution, Andy Forssell, told the Financial Times earlier this month that it is in "discussions" to launch the service in "six to eight" major international markets (note: the company is also reported to be seeking candidates for the position of director of international business development). Forssell also confirmed that Hulu is in discussions with ITV and the BBC.