Hulu takes binge-viewing route for first time

US streaming service Hulu is to follow the example of rival services such as Netflix by allowing binge viewing of its forthcoming original Shut Eye, which will be made available to viewers on December 7.

Hulu has previously relied on a strategy of releasing episodes of new original series on a traditional one-per-week basis. However, it said yesterday that all ten episodes of Shut Eye would be made available at once.

The series, starring Jeffrey Donovan (Fargo, Sicario) and executive-produced by Les Bohern (Taken) and Via Productions’ Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein (Breaking Bad, Halt & Catch Fire, Rectify), is set in the world of Los Angeles psychics and organised crime syndicates that control them.

According to sources cited by the Hollywood Reporter, Hulu is restricting its all-at-once release plan to Shut Eye for now to make the most of an expected spike in usage over the holiday period, with no immediate plans to change its release model for other originals.

Netflix is the pioneer in the binge-viewing space, with the likes of NBC and Foxtel more recently testing the model. Amazon Prime Video has largely stayed away and Hulu had to this point also rejected it.