The big hook for Hulu has always been that it allows people to dig through a bunch of popular shows and choose what they want to watch, freeing viewers from the oppressive demands of traditional TV schedules. Sometimes, though, you just want to switch your brain off and watch whatever the TV schedule wants you to watch. Soon, Hulu will let you have the best of both worlds by adding live streaming TV networks to its normal on-demand offerings.
That’s according to CNET, which says Time Warner has just bought a 10 percent stake in Hulu, and as part of this new friendship, the streaming service will be introducing “a paid option” that grants access to live TV from a select number of Time Warner-owned channels. The ones included are TNT, TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network (and therefore Adult Swim), TruTV, Boomerang, and Turner Classic Movies. Naturally, the deal doesn’t include HBO (which CNET calls the “Time Warner crown jewel”), and it also won’t add any new titles to Hulu’s on-demand library, but it’s still better than nothing. After all, Cartoon Network already plays Teen Titans Go! almost all day, so you can just leave that on until Adult Swim kicks in and airs King Of The Hill or whatever. What more do you need?
This news comes a few months after a report that Fox and Disney were also planning to throw their channels together in a livestreaming bundle for Hulu, with that service expected to cost $40 a month. Presumably, the Time Warner channels will now join them for some kind of faux-cable package, bringing Hulu one step closer to simply becoming the thing it was born to destroy.