Hulu Boasts 6 Million Subscribers, Highlights Original Shows

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Hulu CEO Mike Tompkins discusses advertising opportunities and new shows at the company's upfront on April 30 in New York City.

Image: Brian Anthony Hernandez/Mashable

By Brian Anthony Hernandez2014-04-30 17:22:21 UTC

Hulu now has 6 million subscribers on its premium service, Hulu Plus, up from 4 million paying users at this time last year. The company touted the new numbers and its upcoming new and returning shows at its upfront presentation to advertisers in media in New York City on Wednesday.

Among the five returning shows will be the animated superhero comedy The Awesomes , starring the voice of Saturday Night Live star Seth Meyers, which will come back for season two on Aug. 4 with added star power. Meyers revealed onstage that Will Forte and Amy Poehler will voice the new villain and a new love interest, respectively, and Maya Rudolph will also join the animated cast.

Hulu also announced its original supernatural comedy Deadbeat has been renewed for season two; its first season debuted this month.

Premiere dates for sophomore seasons of western comedy Quick Draw (Aug. 7) and dance drama East Los High (July 9) were unveiled. The new season of Chris O'Dowd's family comedy Moone Boy already premiered last week, and Behind the Mask, a series that goes inside the lives of mascots, will return sometime this fall or winter. The show earned Hulu its first Emmy nomination.

The crowd also got a glimpse at two new shows: Hotwives of Orlando, a spoof on Bravo's Housewives franchise, and The Next Step, a dance series. Hulu also mentioned its newly launched first original series for Hulu Kids — Doozers — a 52-episode animated series inspired by the lively green creatures from 1980s puppet series Fraggle Rock.

Hulu's original shows, as well as content from partners, helped the company reach $1 billion in revenue in 2013 (up from $695 million in 2012). The streaming service now features 519 content partners (up from 470 last year), 72,000 hours of content (up from 57,000), 91,000 TV episodes (up from 70,000), 3,080 TV series (up from 2,500) and 4,900 movies.

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Seth Meyers and Mike Shoemaker tease season two of their animated superhero comedy The Awesomes.

Image: Brian Anthony Hernandez/Mashable

The ultimate goal for Hulu is to "become the singular destination for all things TV," CEO Mike Hopkins said.

Hulu followed an industry trend on Wednesday, telling the advertising crowd how the company is catering to the burgeoning Hispanic consumers. Hulu announced an expansion of Hulu Latino, adding Hispanic broadcast network MundoFOX.

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