Big things are happening at Hulu.
The streaming service on Tuesday announced that its subscriber base has surged past 20 million users in the U.S. Hulu’s data found that 78% of all viewing is done in the living room. Users are streaming that content either from Hulu apps on their televisions or via Hulu apps that are running on a set-top box connected to their televisions.
To keep that going, Hulu also announced on Wednesday a variety of improvements and changes to its service. Chief among them is an upcoming feature that will allow you to download Hulu content from its service.
The feature, which will be available during the 2018-2019 upfront season, will give you the opportunity to download shows and watch them on your computer or other device without an Internet connection. To support the cost of that, Hulu said that advertisers will have the option to run ads on those offline downloads.
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The move stands in stark contrast to what Hulu has been offering since its inception. Indeed, the company has been offering users an opportunity to stream movies and television shows and requires an Internet connection. Hulu has never offered an offline download option.
In addition to offline downloads, Hulu said that it will begin selling advertising for its live television offering. Hulu plans to offer it first on “select cable networks” and then expand its reach to other live content in the future. The live ads will begin at the end of the second quarter.
Looking ahead, Hulu said that it’s expanded its original series lineup with Four Weddings and a Funeral and Ramy. As expected, Hulu has also renewed the wildly popular The Handmaid’s Tale series for a third season.