By Commpro.biz Editorial Staff

At the Hulu Upfront Presentation at Madison Square Garden Theater, the company announced multiple innovative advertising tools, original series orders and content licensing agreements.  They also reported significant audience growth to 47 million total unique viewers.

Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins, SVP of Advertising Sales Peter Naylor and SVP and Head of Content Craig Erwich took the stage to unveil the company’s newest advances in technology, content and advertising, alongside Hulu Original Series talent including J.J. Abrams, Elisabeth Moss, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Sarah Silverman, Mindy Kaling, Jeff Daniels and Josh Hutcherson.

“As we expand our business to offer live TV, we’re also more than doubling our investment in original programming and exclusively licensed content to continue growing our premium streaming library,” said Hopkins. “Coupled with all of the new product and measurement solutions we’re offering advertisers, Hulu is delivering the most compelling, engaging and valuable TV experience to consumers and brands alike.”

Hulu’s 2017 Upfront announcements include:

• Hulu Original Series The Handmaid’s Tale Renewed For Season Two
• Gripping Drama Series The First and Marvel’s Runaways Ordered to Series
• Hulu announced the addition of two new series to its slate of original programming
• Award Winning FX Series Atlanta To Stream Exclusively On Hulu
• Exclusive subscription streaming home to FX’s comedy series, Atlanta

Hulu and BrightLine Introduce First-of-Its-Kind T-Commerce Ad Unit

In partnership with BrightLine, Hulu is bringing the world of E-commerce into the living room. Exclusive to Hulu at launch, BrightLine’s T-commerce ad unit will offer viewers the opportunity to engage directly inside a commercial with a personalized, location based overlay.

“With almost a decade of experience with advertising in the streaming space, no one is better positioned to help brands grow their business than Hulu,” said Naylor. “I’m proud to say that we’ve doubled down on our commitment to brands. From delivering a validated viewer measurement solution with Nielsen, to offering the first-of-its-kind interactive capability in the living room with BrightLine’s T-commerce ad unit, Hulu is now everything TV should be and everything advertising can and should be.”

Groundbreaking Measurement Solutions Including Hulu DAR and Sales Effectiveness Tools

Starting this fall, all Hulu advertisers will have access to a validated measurement solution across screens. In partnership with Nielsen, Hulu is extending Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) to the living room.  Hulu can now get complete measurement of viewership to streaming campaigns across all connected devices – all verified by a trusted third-party source. 

Live TV Advertising Opportunities for Brands

Following the official launch of its new, cutting-edge user experience and new live streaming service, Hulu announced that the new product will offer opportunities for advertisers and marketers, including dynamic ad insertion capabilities. The personalized new live streaming service will give brands the ability to reach audiences on cable networks for the two minutes of local breaks per hour.  And, in an effort to provide viewers with more timely and relevant ads, Hulu announced it will give advertisers access to the same two-minutes of inventory per hour of cable programming in the cloud DVR environment.