AT&T to offer Hulu to its customers on web and mobile apps later this year to drive Hulu subscriptions
To Offer OTT Service Via AT&T Websites, Mobile Apps Daniel Frankel / FierceCable : AT&T integrates Hulu programming into mobile apps and websites Devika Krishna Kumar / Reuters : AT&T to offer Hulu to customers this year Reuters : AT&T to offer Hulu on website, app this year Jalen Benjamin / AndroidGuys : AT&T to offer Hulu subscriptions to its customers See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
In mid-2015 AT&T's streaming strategy was still distribution-first: rather than launching its own service, it planned to surface Hulu inside its own web and mobile properties, using its customer base as an acquisition funnel for Hulu subscriptions. Months later the company pivoted toward ownership — announcing an OTT mobile service for January and floating original-content development, then a three-tier web TV plan including a free tier.
The Hulu deal reads in hindsight as a bridge product: by Q4 2016 AT&T committed to its own DirecTV Now with 100+ channels at "aggressive" prices (DirecTV Now launch plans), and by late 2018 it was sketching a three-tier 2019 service built around a WarnerMedia bundle. The arc runs from renting shelf space to rivals' content toward owning the entire stack.
First-order effects
- Hulu gains a carrier-scale subscription channel — AT&T's existing web and mobile customers become a zero-marketing-cost acquisition pipeline starting later that year.
- AT&T gets streaming content in its apps immediately, filling its video portfolio while its own OTT service was still unbuilt.
Second-order effects
- Rival carriers face pressure to strike similar bundling deals, turning carrier apps into contested storefronts where streamers bid for placement.
- Once AT&T's own DirecTV Now arrived with aggressive price points, the Hulu placement competed with AT&T's in-house service for the same subscriber dollars.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points toward vertical integration: carriers that start by distributing third-party OTT end up building proprietary services — DirecTV Now, AT&T TV, and ultimately the WarnerMedia-bundled tiered service — shrinking the role of intermediaries like Hulu.
- If bundling proves how subscribers are won, streaming competition consolidates around whoever controls both the pipe and the content, forcing standalone streamers onto carrier platforms for reach.
The trend: US carriers have been moving from reselling third-party streaming services to owning their own OTT stacks, with early distribution deals like Hulu serving as placeholders until in-house services launched.