Hulu is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake (1:2). It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series from studios including 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Disney Television Studios, ABC, Freeform, and FX Networks among others, as well as Hulu original programming. Hulu was initially established as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBC Universal, Providence Equity Partners, and later The Walt Disney Company, serving as an aggregation of recent episodes of television series from their respective television networks. In 2010, Hulu launched a subscription service, initially branded as "Hulu Plus", which featured full seasons of programs from the companies and other partners, and undelayed access to new episodes. In 2017, the company launched Hulu with Live TV—an over-the-top live TV service featuring linear television channels. As of January 1, 2023, Hulu has a total of 48 million subscribers in United States. In 2011, Hulu began its first and only overseas expansion by launching its service in Japan. Three years later in 2014, the Japan counterpart of Hulu was acquired by Nippon TV and has since been operated as a separate service under the name Hulu Japan.
