Published: October 28, 2011
The CW and Hulu Sign Five-Year Licensing Agreement for Current Season Programming
LOS ANGELES - (BUSINESS WIRE) - The CW Television Network, a joint venture of CBS Corporation and Warner
Bros. Entertainment, announced today a five-year licensing agreement
with Hulu for the rights to stream in-season episodes of The CW's
programming on the Hulu Plus subscription service and the free,
ad-supported Hulu service.
With this agreement, Hulu Plus will be the only online subscription
service to carry in-season episodes of The CW's drama and reality
series, with the five most recent episodes of each show available to
subscribers the next day after broadcast. Users of the free,
ad-supported Hulu service will be able to watch five episodes of current
season programming eight days after airing on The CW.
Available later this year, programming on Hulu and Hulu Plus will begin
with the nine series on The CW's Fall 2011 schedule, including new
series "Ringer," "Hart of Dixie" and "The Secret Circle," as well as
returning hits "The Vampire Diaries," "Gossip Girl," "Supernatural,"
"Nikita," "90210" and "America's Next Top Model."
"Our new arrangement with Hulu only affirms the incredible value of The
CW's series, as well as amplifying the immense power of the broadcast
network model," said Mark Pedowitz, President, The CW. "As we increase
the amount of year round original programming on The CW, this deal
provides our shows with greater exposure on a new platform, helping
build even more awareness that will drive viewers back to the network
and its affiliates. We see this as a win for everyone involved, the
network, the stations, Hulu and ultimately, the viewers."
"The CW programming is a great example of the kind of in-season content
we want to make available on our service - high-quality, engaging,
serialized shows that fans passionately love," said Andy Forssell, SVP
of Content for Hulu. "Making these shows available on Hulu and Hulu Plus
will allow new and existing fans to get their fix of The CW's great
shows anytime and anywhere."
The new agreement with Hulu delivers more ways for viewers to catch up
with The CW's serialized dramas and reality series, and provides the
network with valuable off-air promotion and marketing to grow its brand,
as well as increase awareness for its series. The CW's content can also
be made available online through authenticated cable providers.
The CW, which last year introduced an innovative digital convergence
strategy for broadcast and online ad sales, will continue to present its
programming on cwtv.com with a full complement of advertising, prior to
streaming on the free Hulu service.
About The CW
The CW Network was formed as a joint venture between Warner Bros.
Entertainment and CBS Corporation in 2006. The CW is America's fifth
broadcast network, targeting young adult viewers, specifically young
women 18-34. The CW offers a five-night, 10-hour primetime lineup of
original programming that runs Monday through Friday; a one-hour weekday
afternoon block; and a five-hour Saturday morning animation block that
delivers a total of 20 hours of programming a week over six days. The
network's primetime schedule includes "The Vampire Diaries," "America's
Next Top Model," "Gossip Girl," "90210," "Supernatural" and "Nikita" as
well as freshmen series "Ringer," "Hart of Dixie" and "The Secret
Circle."
About Hulu
Hulu is an online TV service whose mission is to help people find and
enjoy the world's premium content when, where and how they want. As we
pursue this mission, we aspire to create a service that users,
advertisers and content owners unabashedly love. Hulu was founded in
2007 and is operated independently by a dedicated team with offices in
Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Tokyo and Beijing.
NBCUniversal, News Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, Providence
Equity Partners, and the Hulu team share in the ownership of the company
(www.hulu.com).
About CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is a mass media company with constituent parts that
reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer
businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The
Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach
with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an
extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and
advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has
operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment,
including broadcast television (CBS and The CW - a joint venture between
CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television
(Showtime Networks, Smithsonian Networks and CBS Sports Network), local
television (CBS Television Stations), television production and
syndication (CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International and CBS
Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home
media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media
(CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS
Consumer Products), video/DVD (CBS Home Entertainment), motion pictures
(CBS Films) and socially responsible media (EcoMedia). For more
information, log on to www.cbscorporation.com.
About Warner Bros. Television Group
Warner Bros. Television Group strategically manages all of Warner Bros.'
current and emerging television businesses, including worldwide and
local production, traditional and digital distribution and broadcasting.
As the industry's leading supplier of television programming, WBTVG has
longstanding relationships with the most respected names in television,
including Chuck Lorre, John Wells, Jerry Bruckheimer, J.J. Abrams and
others. For the 2011-12 season, WBTVG will produce more than 50
primetime, first-run, cable and animated series, including "Two and a
Half Men," "The Big Bang Theory," "The Mentalist," "The Closer," "The
Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "Thundercats," totaling over 2,000 episodes.

For The CW
Paul Hewitt, 818-977-6171
paul.hewitt@cwtv.com
or
For
Hulu
Elisa Schreiber, 310-571-4956
elisa@hulu.com
or
For
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Paul McGuire, 818-954-6152
paul.mcguire@warnerbros.com
or
Scott
Rowe, 818-954-5806
scott.rowe@warnerbros.com
or
For
CBS
Chris Ender, 818-655-1100
cender@cbs.com
or
Dana
McClintock, 212-975-1077
dlmcclintock@cbs.com
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