It was 11 months ago that Viacom pulled its content from Hulu in a contract dispute. Now they’ve kissed and made up.
Under the new contract announced this week, current full episodes and clips of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” are again available on the free ad-supported Hulu.com service and through the Hulu Plus subscription service. In addition, Viacom will make available to Hulu Plus subscribers a selection of current programs, like “Jersey Shore,” “Tosh.0,” “Teen Mom 2,” “Manswers,” “Let’s Stay Together,” and “Hot in Cleveland” 21 days after they air. Viacom said content availability on Hulu Plus will vary on a show-by-show basis.
Additionally, Hulu Plus subscribers will have access to more than 2,000 episodes of programming from Viacom’s library, including “The Chappelle Show,” “Beavis & Butthead,” “Real World” and many others.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“We are very pleased to partner with Hulu in a way that recognizes the value of our strong brands and the passionate young fans who are attracted to our content. The Hulu Plus service offers us the opportunity to connect with our audiences through an exciting subscription and ad supported platform that is complementary to our existing distribution arrangements,” said Philippe Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom.
RBR-TVBR observation: It all comes down to business. Viacom isn’t putting very much content back on Hulu’s free to consumer, ad-supported site. But it is happy to take a cut of payments from the subscription service.
