Empire fans wanting to stream season one of the hip-hop soap opera, can only visit Hulu to recap on all the drama that took place this past season. Hulu recently landed an exclusive subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) rights to the show. Empire, a Fox hit, will now only be streamed on Hulu Plus.
According to Variety, the terms of the deal were not disclosed. Prior to the deal however, the five most recent episodes of the hip-hop soap opera have been available for free on Hulu.com. Now with the new agreement, the free episodes will instead only be available on the monthly $7.99 Hulu Plus service.
Variety also reported that though Hulu is owned by 21s Century Fox, NBC Universal and Disney, the executives from all parities declared that there is no special treatment in licensing deals for Hulu with its parent companies.
"Hulu is the perfect home for this extraordinary series," said Gina Brogi, executive VP of worldwide pay television and SVOD for Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, according to Variety. "As interest in the show continues to explode, having a place for people to watch it from the beginning is extremely important to viewers and fans."
Craig Erwich, the senior VP and head of content for Hulu revealed that Empire has been one of the top shows for Hulu viewers.
"Empire's storylines and music continue to dominate the popular culture conversation each week," he said via Variety. "Since its premiere, the series has remained one of the top shows on Hulu, and we are ecstatic to be the exclusive streaming home to the biggest show of the year."
In the future, Hulu Plus subscribers will have access to all episodes the day after the initial Fox broadcast, USA Today reported.
Empire has continued to build viewers each week since its initial Jan 7 premiere. Now with its new home at Hulu, fans can subscribe, watch and re-watch the soap opera at their leisure.
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