Competition between online video streaming services is now greater than ever before. These companies are dumping hundreds of millions of dollars in the production of original content, while sparing no expense in order to get exclusive streaming rights for some of the most watched content. For example Amazon recently inked a deal with HBO which gives it exclusive streaming rights for some of the cable giant’s popular shows. Hulu now has an exclusive deal to brag about as well, all 17 seasons of South Park will be available for streaming on Hulu Plus.
This was announced earlier in the week at the Television Critics Association Press Tour. Not only will Hulu Plus subscribers get access to all existing episodes of South Park on demand, they will also be able to stream new episodes just a day after they have been aired on Comedy Central.
While it wasn’t officially revealed how much this deal cost Hulu, The New York Times reports that it may have cost north of $80 million for all 240-plus episodes to be exclusive to Hulu.
South Park episodes have been available through different sources on the internet such as Hulu or Netflix and even SouthParkStudios.com. However as competition heats up exclusivity becomes more appealing. Craig Erwich who is the head of content at Hulu believes that this deal will help the service “cut through the clutter.”
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