Hulu Viewership and Subscriber Statistics: How Many People Watch Hulu in 2023?
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Hulu Viewership and Subscriber Statistics: How Many People Watch Hulu in 2023?

Brian Dean

Written by Brian Dean

Hulu Viewership and Subscriber Statistics: How Many People Watch Hulu?

Hulu publicly launched its video on demand service in March 2008.

The platform hit 1 million paying subscribers in 2011. Subscription numbers have seen consistent quarterly growth ever since.

Disney bought a majority stake in Hulu in December 2017, propelling further growth.

Today, Hulu has 39.4 million paying subscribers and nearly 100 million total viewers.

Continue reading to find out all the latest stats on Hulu.

Let’s get right into the data:

Key Hulu Statistics

  • Hulu has a total of 99.7 million viewers.
  • Hulu has 39.4 million paying subscribers.
  • 4 million users subscribe to the Hulu Live TV bundle.
  • Hulu brings in $2.7 billion in annual advertising revenue.
  • 67% of Hulu subscribers stay with the platform after 6 months.
  • 40% of Hulu’s US content is exclusive.

Hulu viewers

Hulu has an estimated total viewership of 99.7 million, factoring in users of any age who watch content on the service at least once per month. That’s an increase of 5.5% since 2020.

Hulu has an estimated total viewership of 99.7 million

In the last two years (2018-2020), Hulu has added 37.5 million new viewers.

Hulu viewers

Here’s a table showing the growth in Hulu viewer numbers since 2018, with projected figures through to 2024:

Year Video Viewers
2018 57 million
2019 76.3 million
2020 94.5 million
2021 99.7 million
2022 106.1 million
2023 111.5 million
2024 115.6 million

Source: eMarketer.

Hulu subscribers

Hulu has 39.4 million paying subscribers. During the last year alone (Q1 2020 – Q1 2021), the streaming service has added 9 million new subscribers, a 29.6% year-over-year increase.

Hulu has 39.4 million paying subscribers

Over the last 8 years, Hulu has grown its paid subscriber base at a CAGR of 33.1%.

Hulu subscribers

We have charted the growth in Hulu subscribers since 2010:

Quarter, year Number of subscribers
Q4 2010 300 thousand
Q1 2011 500 thousand
Q2 2011 900 thousand
Q3 2011 1.2 million
Q4 2011 1.5 million
Q1 2012 2 million
Q4 2012 3 million
Q1 2013 4 million
Q4 2013 5 million
Q2 2014 6 million
Q2 2015 9 million
Q2 2016 12 million
Q4 2017 13.2 million
Q4 2018 20 million
Q2 2019 26.8 million
Q3 2019 27.9 million
Q4 2019 28.5 million
Q1 2020 30.4 million
Q2 2020 32.1 million
Q3 2020 35.5 million
Q4 2020 36.6 million
Q1 2021 39.4 million

Sources: Business Insider, Statista, Disney.

What is Hulu’s US market share?

Hulu currently has a 20% share of the US subscription video on demand (SVOD) market, calculated by the percentage of total subscriptions. The platform’s market share has declined slightly in the past 18 months.

Hulu US market share

Here’s a table showing Hulu’s share of SVOD subscriptions since Q3 2019:

Date Share
Q3 2019 27%
Q4 2019 24%
Q1 2020 23%
Q2 2020 23%
Q3 2020 22%
Q4 2020 20%

Source: ANTENNA.

Live TV on Hulu

Hulu’s live TV bundle has 4 million subscribers. The package provides access to live programming in addition to the on-demand library. During the last year (December 2019 – January 2021), Hulu added 800 thousand new live TV subscribers.

Hulu live TV subscribers

Here’s a table with the number of Hulu live TV subscribers since March 2019:

Date Live TV subscribers
March 2019 2 million
September 2019 2.9 million
December 2019 3.2 million
March 2020 3.3 million
October 2020 4.1 million
January 2021 4 million

Source: Disney.

Hulu live TV market share

Hulu has a 34% market share of the virtual MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) sector. Hulu’s share of the market has increased from 31% in September 2019.

Hulu has a 34% market share of the virtual MVPDs sector

Here’s a table showing Hulu’s share of the vMVPD segment over time:

Date Market share of subscribers
September 2018 24%
September 2019 31%
September 2020 34%

Source: ANTENNA.

Hulu live TV monthly churn rate

Hulu + Live TV has an average active monthly churn rate of 6.9%, which is broadly comparable with other streaming services.

For reference, the Philo service has an 11.4% monthly churn rate. Disney+ has a churn rate of 8%, while Netflix loses just 2.4% of its users to cancellations each month.

Source: ANTENNA.

Hulu gender demographics

52% of Hulu subscribers are female, while the remaining 48% are male. Among rival streaming services, only Netflix can boast a similarly equal gender split (also 52/48).

Source: Morning Consult.

Hulu subscribers by generation

More than half (54%) of Hulu subscribers are either millennials or Generation Z.

54% of Hulu subscribers are either millennials or Generation Z

Here’s a table with the full generational breakdown of Hulu subscribers:

Generation Share
Generation Z 17%
Millennials 37%
Generation X 37%
Baby boomers 19%

Source: Morning Consult.

Hulu subscriber political affiliation

No single political affiliation holds a majority among Hulu subscribers. The Democrats are the largest group, with 43% of subscribers identifying as supporters of the party.

Here’s a breakdown of Hulu subscribers by political party affiliation:

Political party Share
Democrats 43%
Independents 32%
Republicans 25%

Source: Morning Consult.

Where are Hulu subscribers from?

The majority (75%) of Hulu subscribers live in urban or suburban communities. The remaining 25% live outside of towns and cities. Interestingly, this is the largest share of rural viewers among all the major streaming services.

75% of Hulu subscribers live in urban or suburban communities

Source: Morning Consult.

Hulu subscriber race demographics

64% of Hulu subscribers are white. Only Disney+ (62%) has a lower share of white viewers.

64% of Hulu subscribers are white

Here’s a breakdown of Hulu subscribers by race:

Race Share
White (non-Hispanic) 64%
Hispanic 20%
Black (non-Hispanic) 13%
Asian, other race or ethnicity 3%

Hulu subscriber annual income

Half of Hulu subscribers make less than $50,000 per year.

Among competitors, Netflix has the most comparable income profile. On both services, just 19% of users have an annual income exceeding $100,000. The proportion of affluent subscribers is higher among other rivals.

Source: Morning Consult.

Hulu advertising revenue

Hulu’s expected advertising revenue for 2021 is $2.7 billion. That’s an increase of 20.53% over the previous year.

Hulu advertising revenue

Here’s a table with Hulu advertising revenue since 2016:

Year Advertising revenue
2016 $873 million
2017 $986 million
2018 $1.45 billion
2019 $1.82 billion
2020 $2.24 billion
2021 $2.7 billion

Source: Business Insider.

Hulu US connected TV ad revenue

Connected TV advertising refers to ads that can be shown on streaming services through consoles, TV sticks and smart TVs.

Hulu is forecasted to generate $2.6 billion in gross connected TV ad revenue in 2021. This represents a yearly increase of 32.65%.

Hulu US connected TV ad revenue

Hulu’s connected TV advertising revenue has grown 1.66x since 2019.

Here’s a table showing Hulu advertising revenue since 2019:

Note: Data includes estimates.
Year Connected TV ad revenue
2019 $1.57 billion
2020 $1.96 billion
2021 $2.6 billion
2022 $3.1 billion

Source: eMarketer.

How many Hulu users choose the ad-free plan?

The majority (62%) of new Hulu members opt for the ad-supported plan. The remaining 38% pay extra for the ad-free plan.

62% of new Hulu members opt for the ad-supported plan

Here’s a table showing sign-up trends since October 2020:

 
Date Share (ad-supported, ad-free)
October 2020 62%, 38%
November 2020 81%, 19%
December 2020 67%, 33%
January 2021 62%, 38%

Source: ANTENNA.

Hulu’s average revenue per streaming subscriber

Among users without the live TV plan, Hulu reports average monthly revenue of $13.51 per user. That’s an increase of 10.37% over the previous quarter, up from $12.24 per user.

Hulu average revenue per streaming subscriber

Here’s a table with Hulu’s average revenue per user since March 2019:

Date Average monthly revenue per subscriber
March 2019 $12.73
September 2019 $13.09
December 2019 $13.15
March 2020 $12.06
October 2020 $12.24
January 2021 $13.51

Source: Disney.

Hulu’s average revenue per live TV subscriber

Live TV bundle subscribers are Hulu’s most lucrative customers. The average revenue per user is 5.56x higher than among streaming-only subscribers.

Hulu average revenue per live TV subscriber

The average Hulu live TV subscriber contributes $75.11 in monthly revenue.

Here’s a table showing Hulu’s average monthly revenue per live TV subscriber since March 2019:

Date Average monthly revenue per subscriber
March 2019 $52.58
September 2019 $55.98
December 2019 $59.47
March 2020 $67.75
October 2020 $67.24
January 2021 $75.11

Source: Disney.

Hulu’s retention rate

67% of Hulu subscribers remain on the platform after 6 months. That places the platform 4th among 7 major players, ahead of the likes of HBO Max and Amazon Video.

67% of Hulu subscribers remain on the platform after 6 months

Source: Second Measure.

Share of exclusive content on Hulu

40% of content on Hulu is exclusive (not available to stream on any other US service).

40% of content on Hulu is exclusive (not available to stream on any other US service)

For comparison, 83% of US Netflix content is exclusive. Only Amazon Prime has a lower share of exclusive content than Hulu, at 38%.

Source: Reelgood.

Hulu content hours

Hulu has the highest number of total content hours among all US streaming libraries.

Based on hours of recent content (released within the last 3 years), Hulu ranks second nationally.

Ranked by hours of original content, Hulu sits 3rd.

Source: Reelgood.

Hulu streaming market share

Hulu accounts for 15% of SVOD streaming activity in the US, which makes it the 3rd most popular service in the country (behind Netflix and Prime Video).

Hulu accounts for 15% of SVOD streaming activity in the US

Source: Reelgood.

How many employees does Hulu have?

Hulu has 2,350 employees, situated in the US and China. The average compensation at Hulu is estimated to be $101,593.

Hulu employees on H1-B visas in the US are reported to receive a median salary of $157,000.

Sources: Dun & Bradstreet, Comparably, H1B Salary Database.

Conclusion

That’s all for my list of Hulu statistics.

Hopefully, you’ve learned something new from this roundup. There are several big players in the streaming game, so it’s interesting to see how Hulu stacks up against the likes of Netflix and Prime Video.

The platform doesn’t share a ton, but I’ve done my best to find facts and figures from multiple sources to provide you with a comprehensive overview.

Now I’m interested to hear from you:

Are there any more Hulu stats you’d like to see included? Or do you have a question or comment about any of the figures featured here?

Either way, don’t hesitate to drop me a line in the comment section below.

2 Comments

  1. Mel Hiblen Avatar Mel Hiblensays:

    You certainly are the go-to on Hulu! This article caught my eye as to be honest, I hadn’t even heard of them!
    So it will definitely be interesting to see if they break the same boundaries as Netflix and make it over to the UK too. God knows we all like a great TV series and thanks to lockdown, we’re out of new stuff to watch 😉

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Mel, for sure. Hulu has some pretty solid shows.

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