Will Disney Deal Help Hulu Change the TV Landscape?

Hulu announced this week that it's struck a deal with Disney and 21st Century Fox to add those companies' TV channels to its live-streaming service due to launch sometime next year. The deal helps to confirm a good portion of the channel line-up for the service, which could become a significant competitor for cable companies.

It's not surprising that Fox, Fox Sports, ABC, Disney Channel and Freeform will be part of the Hulu package, given that Fox and Disney are both part owners of Hulu. What's significant is that the confirmed addition of the channels gives some clout to the yet-to-launch subscription service which will offer unprecedented access to live streams of major broadcast and cable and channels. The Fox and Disney channels will join channels from Time Warner's Turner stable, including TNT, TBS, CNN, and Cartoon Network.

To this point, Hulu has focused on delivering its owner companies' roster of series after they air, and it's also been developing original content in the mold of Netflix. None of its original programming has drawn much attention, however, and the absence of live streaming of TV episodes limits the service's ability to compete with broadcast and cable.

There's no word yet on when Hulu's live service will launch or how much it will cost. When it does launch, it will enter into competition not just with cable providers, but also with live services such as Dish's SlingTV, Playstation's Vue and YouTube's Unplugged.