At its Upfront Presentation, Hulu announced that it has acquired the online streaming rights for all the seasons of the hugely popular 90’s sitcom Seinfeld from Sony Corporation. Though the terms weren’t disclosed, sources estimate the deal to be as high as $180 million, which in turn values a single episode close to a whopping $1 million.
The development follows rival Netflix Inc’s NFLX purchase of streaming video on demand (SVOD) rights for another extremely successful sitcom Friends, last year, from Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc. TWX.
Seinfeld, often described as a “show about nothing”, premiered on NBC in 1989 and ran for nine full seasons until 1998. The show, which was about four quirky friends living in New York City and their tryst with life’s mundane problems with hilarity interspersed, scaled record-breaking viewership.
The rapid growth in Internet usage and the increased demand for anytime anywhere viewing have revolutionized the entertainment industry. Rated as one of the finest shows on television, Seinfeld is widely demanded in this era of ‘binge viewing’ where people want to watch thier favorites sitcoms. This in turn, has created a huge opportunity for streaming service providers to attract more subscribers.
As a result, streaming companies are battling it out for quality content as more and more people cut cords.
Hulu, which outbid Amazon.com Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Netflix for Seinfeld, is confident that the deal will prove lucrative for the company. Seinfeld will be available on Hulu from June.
The money paid for Seinfeld is likely to be split equally between Sony, producer Castle Rock Entertainment and creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.
Hulu, is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company DIS, Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc.FOXA and Comcast Corporation.
Disney is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, whereas 21st Century Fox and Comcast Corp are Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stocks.
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