Some of the most popular shows from MTV and Comedy Central are returning to Hulu.
Viacom and Hulu have come to an agreement that will enable Hulu's ad supported service to stream clips and full-length episodes of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report." The shows will be made available today, the companies said.
Viacom will make available to Hulu Plus subscribers a selection of current programs, like "Jersey Shore," "Tosh.0," "Teen Mom 2," "Manswers," "Let's Stay Together," and "Hot in Cleveland" 21 days after they air. Viacom content availability on Hulu Plus will vary on a show-by-show basis.
Additionally, TV shows from Comedy Central, MTV, BET, VH1, Spike TV, and TV Land will be made available to Hulu Plus subscribers, Hulu said in a statement announcing the deal. The agreement also gives Hulu Plus subscribers access to programs in Viacom's archives, including "The Chappelle Show," "Reno 911", Beavis & Butthead," and "Real World."
Viacom's shows return to Hulu nearly a year after being pulled from the video service. When the pull-out occurred, last March, Viacom executives indicated that Hulu wasn't generating enough revenue but also didn't rule out a return.
The news comes at a time when Hulu is dogged by reports that the service's owners: Disney, NBC Universal, and News Corp. can't agree on what direction to take the company. ABC and News Corp. have considered pulling some of their content from Hulu's free service, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal.
Some at Hulu's parent companies believe that by making TV shows available on Hulu, they are drawing viewers away from TV broadcasts of the shows--a much more lucrative revenue stream than that provided by Web advertising, the Journal reported.