By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — BET is one of several new channels that are joining offerings available via the Hulu + Live TV bundle for the first time starting this year. It’s another sign of how much the streaming wars are heating up on the networks. Others joining the live package as part of a deal Hulu has reached with Viacom CBS includes Comedy Central and Paramount Network. It also includes continued carriage of CBS, CBS Sports Network, Pop TV, Smithsonian Channel and The CW. Premium cable channel Showtime also remains available as an add-on for Hulu live TV subscribers.
“Hulu continues to be a great partner, and this agreement ensures that Hulu + Live TV subscribers are now able to enjoy the full breadth of our leading content across news, sports and entertainment for the first time,” ViacomCBS U.S. Networks Distribution president Ray Hopkins said this week in a statement.
When Hulu launched its live TV bundle in 2017, it did so without Viacom’s portfolio of cable channels. At the time, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish had said that the company would be “highly selective” about its streaming distribution partners going forward. But in the three years since, streaming has become a primary means of watching entertainment programming in the U.S. In May 2020, Viacom CBS inked a carriage agreement with YouTube TV to carry its cable channels.
With the Hulu deal, ViacomCBS is now carried on all major over-the-top live TV bundles. Disney-owned Hulu has more than four million subscribers to its live TV bundle. The streamer, which has nearly 39 million total subscribers, recently increased the cost of a live TV subscription from $55 to $65.
