A programming agreement that gives The Walt Disney Co.’s streaming service Hulu access to popular programming from Comcast’s NBCUniversal has been terminated, reports nexttv.com.
Instead of appearing on Hulu the day after they air on NBC, shows like This Is Us, The Voice and Saturday Night Live will be available on Peacock, the Comcast streaming platform that competes with Hulu.
NBCU provided no additional details of its plans. But having those shows on Peacock will give the NBCU service a much-needed boost.
Hulu still has deals for some movies and series from the NBC catalog that run for several more years. It recently added two international series from NBCU, Blood and Creamerie.
Hulu was originally formed as a joint venture among NBCUniversal, Disney and Fox, with Time Warner originally owning a stake. The object was to create a platform for streaming television to compete with Netflix. Having network programming the day after they aired was a major feature for Hulu.
When Comcast bought NBCUniversal, the cable company wasn’t a big fan of streaming, which was driving cord cutting. When Disney acquired Fox, it gained a controlling interest in Hulu. Comcast has a contractual ability to sell its stake in Hulu to Disney, but the two companies are far apart on the price.
As more consumers adopt streaming video, media companies have been pivoting to streaming. They’ve also been reacquiring the rights to stream shows they produced that were previously sold off to other distributors.
NBCU has also viewed sports as a way to boost Peacock. Peacock recently streamed the Olympics and the Super Bowl. NBC Sports is also reportedly talking to Major League Baseball about putting games on Peacock when and if a baseball season starts.
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