Hulu scraps plans to launch in the UK
Hulu has reportedly scrapped plans to launch its online TV service in the UK after failing to sign content deals with British broadcasters.
The Telegraph claims that the video aggregator has been forced a axe plans for a UK launch because it has been unable to get “any traction in the British TV market”, which is already crowded with services such as the BBC’s iPlayer.
The News Corp, NBC Universal and Disney-owned service has been in talks with ITV, Channel 4 and Five in a bid to agree UK-based content deals, but discussions have broken down for various reasons.
ITV is keen to focus on building up its own VoD service ITV Player before offering content to third parties, while Channel 4 and Five were unable to agree who would sell the advertising inventory around their content.
Ben McOwen Wilson, ITV’s director of online and interactive, said: “Hulu is a major success in the US but the UK TV market is a different place. It is much more consolidated, which mean there are fewer online locations than in the US, which users need to visit to get access to their favourite content – therefore there is less need for aggregators.”
However, the report suggests that Hulu has not completely ruled out a UK launch.
In the US, the ad-supported platform offers content such as The Simpsons and The Office, as well as documentary films such as Super Size Me.
Hulu currently has distribution deals with Dailymotion, Yahoo! and MSN, and is responsible for selling the ad inventory around all its US content.