“Animation Domination” is Fox ‘s phrase but Hulu ‘s truth. Consistently, Hulu’s top-performing series is not “Only Murders in the Building” or “Tell Me Lies,” but rather Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers” or “Family Guy.” And those animated encores aren’t going anywhere thanks to an extended deal between Fox Entertainment and Hulu — well, they’re not going anywhere until at least 2029.
The new content-partnership agreement, valued at $1.5 billion per Deadline, will keep new, in-season Fox shows available for streaming on Hulu . It will also keep the out-of-season episodes for Fox’s animated shows like “Bob’s Burgers” and “Family Guy” (not old seasons of “The Simpsons,” which is on Disney+) in Hulu’s archives.
Out-of-season episodes for select Fox unscripted shows will continue to be made available through Hulu under the deal. When reached by IndieWire, a Fox spokesperson and a Hulu spokesperson both declined to comment on the dollar amount. Because Fox does not have a traditional SVOD (subscription video on-demand) platform, new episodes of its series head to Hulu the day after they premiere on the broadcast network.
“Subscription” is the operative word in that acronym: Fox owns Tubi, a serious player in the free-streaming space. But Fox used to have an ownership stake in SVOD, and as a matter of fact, the streamer we’re talking about is Hulu. Up until March 2019, Fox owned one-third of Hulu — no more and no less than its equal.